


As Syllable From Sound

by Rozu_chan_happy_tomato



Series: All The Difference [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Culture, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker Gets a Hug, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aromantic, Aromantic Obi-Wan Kenobi, Asexual Character, Asexual Obi-Wan Kenobi, Fluff, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Humor, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hurt/Comfort, I can't believe the force is a character tag, In this house we love and respect the Jedi Council, In this house we love and respect the Jedi Order, Jedi Culture & Tradition (Star Wars), Jedi Culture Respected, Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Mandalorian Culture, Mentioned Qui-Gon Jinn, Minor Character Death, Obi-Wan Kenobi Gets a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Mess, One Big Happy Family, Texting, Therapy, Therapy Fam in full force here, Wholesome, Yes this will be happening sorry, open to prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:47:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 19,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27442888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rozu_chan_happy_tomato/pseuds/Rozu_chan_happy_tomato
Summary: OPEN TO PROMPTS - stretching from the end of The Thing With Feathers to the beginning of Attack of the Clones. :)Chapter 20: Zabu faces an internal struggle as xer knighthood approaches, and Anakin shows off his vocabulary skills.
Relationships: Aayla Secura & Anakin Skywalker, Aayla Secura & Quinlan Vos, Anakin Skywalker & Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker & Original Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Shmi Skywalker, Bail Organa/Breha Organa, Bant Eerin & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Feemor & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jango Fett & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu & Original Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Bail Organa & Breha Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Quinlan Vos, Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Quinlan Vos & Original Character(s), Quinlan Vos/Original Character(s)
Series: All The Difference [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909651
Comments: 240
Kudos: 393





	1. Comm Messages Between Anakin and Obi-wan

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is the new part of the series! I'll be posting this one for a few weeks before I post the next part of the series, but this part will continue to be open to prompts for the foreseeable future. Please post prompts in the comments or DM me, because I absolutely do not have any other useable form of social media.  
> These will mainly be short drabbles unless I feel like I should do otherwise! :) 
> 
> By the way! The title for this part is from yet ANOTHER Emily Dickenson poem called "The Brain - is Wider than the Sky - " Absolutely amazing.
> 
> Happy reading! ~Rozu_chan

[Obidad Bronobi opened Conversation: Two of a Kind]

Obidad Bronobi: Anakin, what was that?

Panakin Linewalker: Nothing, continue with the arguing

Obidad Bronobi: I’m in negotiations, not arguing.

Panakin Linewalker: Same difference

Obidad Bronobi: No, it really isn’t.

Panakin Linewalker: No? ☹

Obidad Bronobi: No. You didn’t answer my question.

Panakin Linewalker: Gotta split!

Obidad Bronobi: Anakin!

&&&

Panakin Linewalker: I may have blown something important up

Obidad Bronobi: May?

Panakin Linewalker: I blew something important up

Obidad Bronobi: What was it?

Panakin Linewalker: you don’t wanna know

Obidad Bronobi:

Panakin Linewalker: I don’t like it when you scold me in that tone of message

Obidad Bronobi: You blew up an orphanage!?

Panakin Linewalker: Nobody was hurt! And it was a front for slave traffickers!

Obidad Bronobi: Oh, well in that case. Slave traffickers you say?

Panakin Linewalker: Yeah, why?

Obidad Bronobi: Oh, no need to worry.

Panakin Linewalker: Now I’m worried.

Obidad Bronobi: Stay safe, mo phàiste

Panakin Linewalker: Take your own advice for once, Obi

&&&

Panakin Linewalker: Prof? [read 30 min]

Panakin Linewalker: Prof? [read 15 min]

Panakin Linewalker: Obi-wan! [read 5 min]

Panakin Linewalker: Obi-wan! Don’t leave me on ‘read!’

Obidad Bronobi: Your Master isn’t available at the moment. Bring the children to the loading docks by evening meal or you will never see him again.

Panakin Linewalker: …new comm number, who dis

Obidad Bronobi: -attachment-

&&&

[Padawan Skywalker opened chat with Mace Windu]

Padawan Skywalker: Prof Obiwan’s been kidnapped! -attachment-

Mace Windu: Again?

Padawan Skywalker: Help???

Mace Windu: Well, that doesn’t look good.

Padawan Skywalker: What do I do???

Mace Windu: Did you really say ‘new comm number, who dis?’

[Padawan Skywalker has changed Mace Windu’s name to Made a Mace-take]

Made a Mace-take: That was uncalled for.

Padawan Skywalker: Help???

Made a Mace-take: Well, I suppose. Here’s what you’re going to do.

&&&

Obidad Bronobi: Where are the children, Jedi? [read 35 min]

Panakin Linewalker: Well, that went well.

Obidad Bronobi: You crashed our ship, Anakin.

Panakin Linewalker: Well, it worked!

Obidad Bronobi: You missed the cell I was in by inches!

Panakin Linewalker: You’re alive, though..

Obidad Bronobi: …yes I am. Thank you, balach grèine.

Panakin Linewalker: !!! (///^.^///)

Obidad Bronobi: …Quin’s been teaching you those horrible things, hasn’t he.

Pakanin Linewalker: uwu

Obidad Bronobi: disowned.

Panakin Linewalker: O.o !!! NoooOOoooOOoOOoOoOo!!


	2. Obi-wan and Jango Meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three* chapters in a weekend? This MAY be because I feel like giving everyone something happy in these decades of stress that have been fit into the past week. It ALSO may be because I don't want to think about homework at the moment. Either way, ya'll get another chapter!
> 
> Just a side-note, I said in the last chapter that you can DM me. There is no DM option on this site! Whoops! Just the comments, then! Additionally, I have a few chapters already written (I like to have a cushion, especially during semester times) so the prompts that have been asked for so far will come after about chapter 6. 
> 
> There is a lot of Scottish Gaelic and Mando'a in this chapter, so all the translations will be in the end-notes, in order of use. If I've gotten anything wrong for these two languages, please remember that I'm a tired uni student who only knows English and Japanese! If you like, please do correct me in the comments, and I will fix the dialogue in an edit! :D
> 
> Happy reading!! ~Rozu_chan
> 
> *one of the chapters is for The Thing With Feathers, the first part of this series

Dantooine wasn’t a place that Obi-wan would ever put on a list as an ideal vacation spot. That wasn’t the fault of the locals, though, but the other people who came to Dantooine for…business. Business that Obi-wan was here to uncover if it had anything to do with his previous mission with Anakin. Child traffickers. Only through sheer dumb luck and Anakin’s inspired idea to message Mace for help did he and Anakin successfully foil _that_ group’s plans and make it off that planet alive, if not entirely well. Obi-wan had spent a few days in the Halls of Healing after that mission with a worried Anakin almost glued to his side for his entire stay in that dreaded hall.

That Obi-wan had gotten injured when in captivity wasn’t new for the Master, but for the padawan it had been a surprising first. Luckily for this leg of the mission, Obi-wan and the council had decided that the risk of violence was high enough that Anakin would stay in the temple, so he was being watched over by T’la and the others.

“Two years of no heavy injuries on active missions probably made the Force feel that it was about time, eh?” Obi-wan said to himself, making sure to only mutter loud enough for himself to hear. For his guise as a hermit, he’d unearthed some of Qui-gon’s old ponchos, and was playing mix-and-match with the colors to sell the cover even more. His beard was sufficiently dusty, and there was an old, ratty cap covering his heavily-sooted hair. Obi-wan wasn’t stupid; he knew that redheads sold well on the market…especially Force-sensitive redheads. Obi-wan muttered again nonsensically, and people around him glanced over and then immediately dismissed the crazy looking vagrant.

Well, _most_ of the people did. One was still looking curiously in Obi-wan’s direction. A Mandalorian by the looks of him, though since he was sitting at a table of a less ratty café, his _buy’ce_ was sitting on the table by his steaming cup of…something…Obi-wan really, really hoped that this wasn’t one of the Death Watch – though the colors on the _beskar’gam_ didn’t suggest that affiliation – and that this mando’ad didn’t recognize him.

“Màthair a ‘pheacaidh,” Obi-wan breathed, keeping his arms crossed and staring into the middle distance to the left of the mando’ad. Obi-wan was crouched on the ground, leaning against the side of the building that was supposed to house an extension of the group that had captured him in the first place. The last thing he needed was his cover blown. To stay, or to go? Really, his choice either way could end in conflict with a mando’ad, something Obi-wan wasn’t looking forward to, but was mentally preparing for nonetheless.

“Hey, you.” The mando’ad had walked over while Obi-wan had been contemplating his choices. _Stay it is, then_ , Obi-wan thought. _I’d better stay in character_.

“Chan eil bhiadh no deoch an seo,” Obi-wan said.

“Chan eil mi ag iarraidh biadh no deoch.” The mando’ade replied. Force, he knew Stewjonian. “Tha thu nad Jedi. Mhionnaich mi an Jedi a mharbhadh.” Well, kriff. The mando’ad fingered one of the visible weapons on his person. Obi-wan switched gears.

“ _Tion gar gai_?” Obi-wan said. The mando’ad’s movements stopped, just as they’d been about to draw the blaster attached to their hip.

“ _Gar suvarir mando’a_?” While the mando’ad’s _buy’ce_ chad been replaced, Obi-wan sensed that he was being given the most incredulous look in the history of incredulous looks.

“ _Lek_ ,” Obi-wan replied, nodding for good measure.

“ _Ner gai_ Jango Fett,” the mando’ade said. “ _Tion gar_?”

“… _ner gai_ Ben Ro.” Obi-wan answered. It was his pseudonym for this mission, but if he was right about this Jango Fett…

“ _Gar jahaatir_ ,” Yes, Obi-wan rather thought that would be the reaction, “ _Tion gar gai_.” Not quite a question anymore, and Fett’s hand had re-wrapped itself firmly around the blaster. Obi-wan sighed.

“Is e m ‘ainm Obi-wan Kenobi,” Obi-wan answered, making sure to keep his voice lowered as he answered in the one language he knew that only he and Fett understood in the immediate vicinity. This whole mission was potentially blown anyway.

“ _Me’bana? Me’copaani_?” Evidently, Fett believed Obi-wan the second time. Though he hadn’t released his blaster, he hadn’t drawn it yet either.

“Tha mi an seo gus sùil a thoirt air luchd-malairt thràillean.”

“ _Gar dinuir haran bah demagolka_?” Obi-wan nodded, cautiously. Fett – oddly enough – had seemed even more tense when Obi-wan had told him why he was there, though he noticed that Fett’s _buy’ce_ seemed to be tilted towards the entrance of the building that Obi-wan was leaning against. Perhaps the man had something against slavers, possibly more than he had against Jedi? If so, then Obi-wan may yet walk away from this interaction with all his limbs intact.

“ _Narudar_?” Fett’s modulated voice growled out. To say Obi-wan was surprised by this offer was an understatement.

“Chan eil thu a ‘dol a mharbhadh mi?”

“ _Aikiyc ca’nara, gotal’ur jate’narudar_.” Fett replied. There wasn’t much Obi-wan could say to refute that statement. It wasn’t _in_ correct, per say, just that Jedi typically faced their ‘desperate times’ alone.

“Carson a tha thu a ‘cuideachadh?” Perhaps Obi-wan should have asked that before instead of ‘you’re not going to kill me,’ but he’d been a tad preoccupied with the knowledge that despite his reflexes, Obi-wan wouldn’t have been able to outdraw Fett while Obi-wan was in the position he was in. That left dodging, and Obi-wan didn’t think Fett was one to underestimate Jedi reflexes. Fett had finally let go of the blaster, and was now standing with his arms folded, looking down judgmentally through his _buy’ce_ at Obi-wan.

“ _Wer’cuy_.” Was that the only answer that Obi-wan was going to get? Apparently so, as Fett reached down to pull Obi-wan up by his collar. Obi-wan hurried to scramble his feet under his torso at the sudden imbalance. Also so he wouldn’t choke.

“Really?” Obi-was said under his breath, knowing Fett would be able to pick it up.

“You got a plan, _jetti_?”

“I was playing the crazy hermit until you noticed me. Was working rather well, too.” Fett snorted at that, which through the voice modifier still sounded odd to Obi-wan, despite the year he’d spent on Mandalore.

“Wasn’t such a great plan if I figured out what you were.”

“ _Beskar’gam_ nullifies the Force in a way,” Obi-wan said, a tad miffed that Fett thought him even slightly incapable, “I was using a small blanket notice-me-not through the Force, which turns the attention of even the most Force-sensitive away if they’re not actively shedding that kind of technique.”

“Yeah, sure thing, _jetti_.”

“Just call me Kenobi.”

“Just call me Fett.”

“Kill me later, then?”

“Sure, what’s your plan?”

“Well, I was thinking…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Màthair a ‘pheacaidh - Mother of sin  
> Chan eil bhiadh no deoch an seo - No food or drink here  
> Chan eil mi ag iarraidh biadh no deoch - I don't want food or drink  
> Tha thu nad Jedi. Mhionnaich mi an Jedi a mharbhadh - You're a Jedi. I swore to kill the Jedi.  
> Tion gar gai - What's your name?  
> Gar suvarir mando’a - You understand Mando'a?  
> Lek - informal yes  
> Gar jahaatir - You tell lies  
> Me’bana? Me’copaani - What's happening? What do you want?  
> Tha mi an seo gus sùil a thoirt air luchd-malairt thràillean - I'm here to spy on slave traders  
> Gar dinuir haran bah demagolka - you will give hell to the monsters (this is actually worse than that, but eh)  
> Narudar - Temporary ally  
> Chan eil thu a ‘dol a mharbhadh mi - You're not going to kill me?  
> Aikiyc ca’nara, gotal’ur jate’narudar - Desperate times make good allies  
> Carson a tha thu a ‘cuideachadh - Why are you helping?  
> Wer’cuy - It was ages ago (colloquially used as "forget it" or "it doesn't matter")


	3. Palpatine's Various Attempts at Getting Anakin Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So this just happened to be part of a prompt someone sent, but I'd already written it! So, here you go, @DevilAngel657 ! Just by happenstance, I had written this a while ago because I wanted to write the Jedi Order blocking the Chancellor from Palpatine's perspective! I hope you like it!  
> By the way, I had posted that you could DM me. You actually can't, as it was pointed out to me. I'll also be editing last chapter so that the translations are footnotes instead, so look out for that! Hopefully, that will help ease the reading experience for you all.
> 
> Happy reading! ~Rozu_chan

“Hello, Master Windu,” Lord Sidious tried to inject as much sweetness into his voice as he could. The Master looked unmoved in the holo. “I was wondering if the Sithslayer and the Hero of Naboo were available to meet with me,” he said, “I would so appreciate the opportunity to thank them for saving my homeworld in person.” He smiled at the stone-faced Master of the Order as pleasantly as he could. When Master Windu hadn’t responded after some time had passed, Sidious tried again. “I _did_ hear that their time being Temple-bound had ended a ten-day ago.” Did…did Windu just _curse_?

He had. “Apologies from the Council, Chancellor,” Windu said, not sounding very apologetic, “however, Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are unavailable, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable and unforeseeable future.” What. “If that will be all?” No, most certainly not- Windu had _hung up_ on him! The nerve! Sidious seethed silently in his chair. Could the Jedi do that? Just hang up on the Chancellor? Wasn’t there a law against such a thing? Sidious was _sure_ there was, but it never hurt to check. Anyway, even if there _wasn’t_ he could push one through over time but until then put the pressure on them to _make_ them listen. But how? Sidious pondered this question with all his shriveled, two-sizes-too-small heart as he stared out of his window at the wilds of Upper Coruscant. 

But _how_?

&&&

“Hello, Master Windu,” Sidious greeted, feeling absolutely slimy with the amount of honey he was injecting into his voice. Disgusting. The sacrifices he made to keep the Jedi from noticing that he was a Sith. “I understand the rush and tumble of being a new Jedi team, but surely _some_ time can be made for at least the hero of Naboo to come and visit.” Anakin would be _perfect_ as his apprentice. The boy held so much _anger_ in him already. If only-

“Unfortunately, Chancellor, I am afraid to say that the Temple has a new rule in place…” Was it Sidious’s imagination, or did Windu look downright smug? “Padawans of any age may not meet with an adult unless their Master and one other Jedi are present at all times. Unfortunately,” the smug look didn’t dissipate at all, in fact, it grew, “the Temple is far too busy at the moment with a few much needed renovations and the influx of requests from the Senate to _spare_ any one Knight or Master, let alone the Kenobi-Skywalker pair, who are in high demand due to how well-liked the Jinn-Kenobi pair had been as well as their recent accomplishment on Naboo.” No.

“Renovations?” Sidious needed to keep the damn man on the call while he thought of a new plan. Windu smiled, not very pleasantly.

“One of our chief healers pointed out some…parts of the Temple that were overlooked for quite some time.” Windu explained, in a way that didn’t actually explain anything. _How_ was this…this… _Korun_ better at obfuscating than Sidious was? The _nerve_.

“Surely,” Sidious said, trying to keep hold of that simpering, grandfatherly tone, “surely the Kenobi-Skywalker pair and one other could be spared, even for an hour.” He’d given up near the end, and his tone had dropped from grandfatherly to vaguely threatening. “Does the Temple even have the allocated _funds_ for a renovation?”

“The renovation is not a physical one, Chancellor,” Windu answered, and cut the transmission. Sidious was left alone, seething, once again. He would try once more.

&&&

“Hello Mas-who are you?” a female Neti had answered the holo-call this time, another ten-day since he’d last tried to contact Skywalker. “I was trying to get in touch with Master Windu.” Who was turning out to be more difficult to subtly threaten than Sidious had previously thought, yet another kink in his diabolical plan. The Neti’s smile stretched uncomfortably long across her face.

“Hello, Chancellor,” she said. Sidious was reminded of his childhood and those annoying wooden flutes his mother had insisted upon playing every day. “Mace can’t take your call right now, he’s busy taking a much-needed nap. Perhaps _I_ can be of some assistance?” Sidious pondered that for a moment. On the one hand, this Neti was likely thousands of years old with lifetimes worth of experiences and could likely spot a Sith the moment they let their guard down…on the other hand…Sidious smiled congenially.

“Perhaps you can,” he said, as cheerfully as his stomach would let him, “I was wondering if perhaps Padawan Skywalker would be available for a chat. I would like to thank him for his part in freeing Naboo from the Trade Federation, you see.” Maybe if he phrased it a bit differently, he would get what he deserved, and the plan could move forward. The Neti tilted her head to the side ponderously, that smile which sent unease through Sidious’s body still creeping wider on her face. Or perhaps he was witnessing the death of a Neti? It certainly seemed like her head was going to split in two. So fascinated was Sidious by this thought and the ever-growing smile on the Neti’s face, that he almost didn’t realize that she’d begun to answer him. Quickly, he returned to the moment.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Chancellor Palpatine,” the Neti said, apologetically. “You see, there’s a rule in place-“

“It can be over holo-call,” Sidious said. The Neti’s smile froze, and a discerning glint entered her pupil-less green eyes. Sidious stopped himself from shuddered. Stars, how he hated those who were obviously non-human. How unnatural.

“That won’t be possible,” the Neti said, slowly, “not without adequate supervision and besides,” she held up a hand to stop Sidious’s protestations, “that wasn’t the issue or rule that I was about to speak on.” Sidious waved her on, rather more aggravated than he had been before the call. “I was about to inform you of the new rule for the Order, that no Padawan shall be in contact with any political figure without supervision. The Jedi are, after all, a neutral force, and cannot be taking sides in the conflicts of the larger political spheres.”

“Larger political spheres?”

“Indeed. Those include the Senate and interplanetary conflicts.” Sidious waited for some more explanation that did not come. He swallowed a put-upon sigh.

“And what of those conflicts like Naboo?” the Neti had the audacity to smile wider. Creepy.

“While we as Jedi are neutral, there are situations in which creative interpretation and then further improvisation is needed in order to achieve the most desirable outcome.” She should have been a politician. However, there _was_ a loophole there, and Sidious pounced on it eagerly without seeming too eager.

“The fact remains, according to your own admission, that instance was certainly not one of neutrality.” There. The hook was cast.

“Are you sure you wish to argue with the results, Chancellor?” The Neti’s smile…hadn’t quite _vanished_ , but had lessened. “In that situation, no persons aside from the Naboo were being negatively impacted. Whilst the actions of Jinn and Kenobi could not be seen as particularly neutral, the lasting impact on the people’s wellbeing on Naboo was being threatened, which is an instance in which the Jedi are commanded by the Force itself – as well as the Senate, might I add – to act upon.” Her flute-y voice had dropped an octave. “Again, Chancellor, are you sure you wish to argue with how your homeplanet continues to thrive?” Ah, the hook had been for _Sidious_. Well played. Sidious now had someone he despised even _more_ than Yoda, if that were possible. Sidious smiled congenially.

“No, no, my dear. I was simply confused about the difference.” Smooth as honey. He impressed himself sometimes. “Thank you for clearing up that little misunderstanding.” The Neti smiled back. “What _was_ your name, my dear? I do believe it has slipped my mind.” The Neti reached forward to disconnect the call, and was able to get in the last word as she did so.

“That would be because I hadn’t introduced myself. Good day, Chancellor.” The line cut. 


	4. Comm Chat Between T'la and Mace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Whenever I write in T'la's voice, I always ALWAYS am hearing her in my head as Whitney Houston. I don't know why. Well, that's a lie, actually! I love her Cinderella film, so maybe I based T'la's personality off of her in that movie. If you all haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching! It's got some great songs and amazing humor and all the cast is obviously having the time of their lives! There's also Whoopie Goldberg in there too! 
> 
> Also, this is a quick follow-up to last week's chapter. I'll be uploading another either today or tomorrow! Probably later today, if I'm being honest with myself!
> 
> Prompts are still open, everyone! Please send in prompts if you think of any!
> 
> Happy reading! ~Rozu_chan

[T’a Ro has opened a chat with Mace Windu]

[T’la Ro has changed their name to Tree hugger]

[Tree hugger has changed Mace Windu’s name to Window cleaner]

[Tree hugger has named the chat BAP (Badasses Against Palpatine)]

Tree hugger: Mace [read 5 min]

Tree hugger: @Window cleaner 😠

Window cleaner: Did you change my name again?

Tree hugger: dwi. 😤

Window cleaner: What?

Tree hugger: Deal. With. It.

Window cleaner: I see you’re in a mood today.

Tree hugger: I had to talk to Mr. I-want-to-speak-to-Anakin while you were napping. 💀💀💀

Window cleaner: Fair.

Tree hugger: I didn’t tell him my name.

Window cleaner: He’ll find out eventually.

Tree hugger: Don’t remind me. Also, you’re on shift for dinner tonight. 🤗

Window cleaner: Don’t remind me. I have no ingredients.

Tree hugger: Do you need me to pick anything up?

Window cleaner: No, this meeting is thankfully almost over.

Tree hugger: ??? I didn’t know you had a mEEting with the Council! 😲😲 I thought today was a break session? 😬 If so, Eeth is dEfInItElY not hiding out on my couch. 🙄🙄🙄

Window cleaner: No. With the Chancellor. Tell Eeth he’s off the hook.

Tree hugger: ……..you’re chatting with me while meeting with the Chancellor of the Republic. Eeth giggled. GIGGLED 🥰🥰

Window cleaner: He’s been talking for two hours straight. In legalese. Adi’s paying attention so I don’t have to. Tell me you recorded Eeth’s giggle.

Tree hugger: o mace

Tree hugger: also no

Window cleaner: Stop that.

Tree hugger: nu i refuse

Window cleaner: Proper spelling and punctuation is pivotal for understanding the nuances of the spoken and written word. Just ask Eeth. I know he’s on your couch.

Tree hugger: im old, fight me. and my CHILD agrees w me. aTREES w me. haha 😂

Window cleaner: You are still in your prime. That is no excuse. I am going to ignore that pun.

Tree hugger: i used to speak like yoda before yoda was yoda. we ALL used to speak like yoda. you wanna speak like yoda? 🤔😆

Window cleaner: I can’t understand him half the time, so no I would not. Those faces are atrocious, you should be ashamed.

Tree hugger: if you speak yoda-ese, i bet mr. high-and-mighty will let you leave…….or think you’re having a stroke 😅😅😅 [read 5 min]

Tree hugger: ……..did it work? 😊 Tell me or I’ll use ALL the emojis. 😊😊😊

Window cleaner: ……………..

Tree hugger: ono 😱😱😱

[Window cleaner has changed their name to Yoda 2.0??]

Tree hugger: IT WORKED????? 😲😲😂😂

Yoda 2.0??: Strangely, yes.

Tree hugger: mebe we should ALL do that 🤔

Yoda 2.0??: The Chancellor might have a conniption. I don’t think Yoda-ese appealed to him very much.

Tree hugger: im so proud of you my son ❤❤❤

Yoda 2.0??: Thanks, mom.

Tree hugger: …..im telling the little green one u called me mom

Yoda 2.0??: No.

Tree hugger: i did it 😎

[Tree hugger has added Yoda to the chat]

[Tree hugger has changed Yoda’s name to Yoda 1.0??]

Yoda 2.0??: Don’t do it.

Tree hugger: …….. @Yoda 1.0??

Yoda 2.0??: Kark

[Yoda 2.0?? has changed their name to Mace Windu]

[Yoda 1.0?? has opened the chat]

Yoda 1.0??: Expected this, I did not.

Mace Windu: Hello, Master Yoda.

Tree hugger: No.

Mace Windu: No?

Yoda 1.0??: A nice greeting, that was not. Invited me, you did!

Tree hugger: Not a greeting.

[Tree hugger has changed Made Windu’s name to Window to the future]

Window to the future: No.

Tree hugger: Change it again and I’ll take away admin rights. 😠

Yoda 1.0??: Grounded, you have been. Hilarious, this is. Laughing, I am. Hahaha.

Window to the future: If I could verbalize a sigh in text I would.

Tree hugger: That’s this: *sigh*

Window to the future: I refuse to partake in this mess of chat-speak.

Yoda 1.0??: *sigh*

Tree hugger: *sigh*


	5. Mission Hugs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small trigger warning for very minor unconscious self harm. VERY minor, there's no blood or even bruising
> 
> Have a great read! ~Rozu_chan

The first few months of missions were always a growing and learning period for a Master-Padawan team. Somewhat luckily for Obi-wan and Anakin, they had been a team for over six months prior to their first mission – traveling to Ilum so Obi-wan and Anakin could find their new kyber crystals, Anakin because of tradition and Obi-wan because he’d lost his old crystal to that melting pit on Naboo – and had spent much of that time becoming used to each other and learning all they could about the other. Both Anakin and Obi-wan had parts of their past that they didn’t want to share – for Anakin, that was a lot of his time as a slave and for Obi-wan, that was most of his apprenticeship – which they were polite enough to leave alone, trusting that the other was at least talking about their experience with their therapist.

Two years into their time as an active team, Anakin had decided he was too old for regular hugs. However, Obi-wan could sense through their bond that Anakin still wanted hugs, and he didn’t know what to do to help with that. So, he sat Anakin down one day on their way back from a surprisingly successful mission (no broken bones, even!) and they had a discussion on the topic.

“So, no hugs.” Not quite the most subtle opening, but Anakin had said before that he didn’t understand the negotiating-speak that Obi-wan was so used to. The 11-year-old hesitated, and then nodded somewhat decisively.

“People don’t take us seriously if they see us hug.” Anakin was serious about that, Obi-wan could see it in his eyes. He stroked his beard.

“Forget about what other people think for a moment,” Obi-wan said, “what do _you_ want.” Anakin pouted.

“I want to hug.”

“So?”

“I want there to be a way to hug that it doesn’t look like we’re hugging.”

“What way would you be comfortable with?”

“I dunno. Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” Obi-wan said with a smile. The matter was tabled as they ate their leftover food; the last of the Chakalaka that Mace had made as well as some Dolmadakia that weren’t leftovers, but a gift from Galvi.

The rest of the trip was spent with Anakin in contemplative silence as Obi-wan lightly closed off their bond to allow his padawan some privacy.

&&&

Back in their rooms as the Temple, Obi-wan was contemplating one of Qui-gon’s plants as he waited for Anakin to return from his self-determined duty to order new outer-robes for the two of them. The plant in question was tall and stalky, with huge leaves that drooped on the ends of each of the stalks. Its name was ‘Brain,’ and it was a light pinkish color that absolutely clashed with the almost eye-splitting green that was its pot. Obi-wan had never understood that combination, but it had made Qui-gon laugh whenever he laid eyes on the combination.

Brain was one of the plants that Obi-wan had been considering transferring to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, specifically because the plant needed more care than Obi-wan was currently able to give it. The main plants that Obi-wan was considering keeping were the cacti and succulents, all plants that did well – perhaps better – left alone. As he considered Brain, Obi-wan began absently stroking his beard. Thoughts of Qui-gon ran through his mind, along with memories of how most of the plants in the rooms had been collected. So lost was he in his thoughts that Obi-wan didn’t notice how his stroking had turned to tugging, or how the door to their rooms slid open.

He _did_ notice Anakin sliding onto his lap and taking hold of the hand that was tugging on his beard, gently peeling the hand away and holding onto it. There was a light throbbing coming from his chin. Oh.

“Welcome back, Ani,” Obi-wan said. Anakin clasped Obi-wan’s hand tightly in his own.

“This will be our mission hug,” Anakin said. Obi-wan said nothing, only silently and gently squeezing back as his answer.


	6. More Obi-wan and Jango

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a day off and felt like posting because of a research project that is making me go "AAAAAAAUUUUUGH!" seriously, House did Asexuality so wrong, and while I do talk about that in the paper I'm just so frustrated by it, geez. 
> 
> Anywho!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter! ~Rozu_chan

“I thought I told you I would _kill_ you the next time we met.” Jango Fett.

“You have said that each time we’ve met,” Obi-wan replied, not turning from where he was keeping watch on a group of mercenaries. The Mand’alor – who refused to be called the Mand’alor – sighed statically and settled on his haunches right behind Obi-wan to look over the Jedi Knight’s shoulder.

“What’re we dealing with here?”

“ _Jetti bora_.”

“Well, lucky I’m _boracyk_ , then.” The voice modulator only made Jango’s tone that much more sarcastic. Obi-wan fumed and stared resolutely at the mercenaries. He most certainly did _not_ need help, no matter what Jango said. Or didn’t say. His _buy’ce_ was surprisingly emotive once you learned what each head tilt meant, and most of the emoting that Jango did was some level of judgmental when directed at Obi-wan.

“What does that mean, anyways?” Obi-wan grumbled. The mercenaries were drinking and laughing. Obi-wan envied their levity, and didn’t feel at all bad that he was about to absolutely ruin their day and their business. With or without the help of Jango, who was mercurial on a _good_ day. There was one time they’d been fighting some mercenaries together – ostensibly because the leader was a bounty in addition to being a spice-runner – and Jango had kept throwing the bodies of the mercenaries he’d defeated at Obi-wan, making the Jedi’s own job that much more difficult.

“ _Verde akaanir tome_.” Jango’s reply was typical, and Obi-wan lightly scoffed. “What’re we dealing with?” He asked again. Since _that_ tone of voice meant that Jango was about to get loud, Obi-wan magnanimously decided to reply before the irascible bounty-hunter completely blew his cover.

“A group of insurgents who plan on kidnapping and killing the _ade_ of the current leader to bring about a change in regime.”

“Isn’t the current leader a usurper himself?”

“Yes, but I’m more concerned about the _ade_ than the leader. They’re sweet.”

“Is your little annoyance with them?”

“ _Anakin_ is back on Coruscant, since we knew that this situation may escalate before we left.”

“We?”

“Myself and Master Fisto. He’s currently guarding the _ade_. My job is to stop the insurgents or convince them to try and overthrow the government in a way that doesn’t harm any younglings.” Kit had been surprisingly amused by the entire situation. Especially the almost-fourteen-year-old who was quite literally hanging onto Obi-wan’s robe-sleeve and begging to go. However, in addition to the potential danger involved (Obi-wan had been an outlier in that most of his missions were dangerous from start to finish when he was a padawan, but that certainly wasn’t the case with most Jedi partnerships), Anakin had exams to finish – which he most certainly had known – and so he had stayed behind in the care of T’la and Master Phandrire.

“I’ve yet to meet this one.”

“You’ve yet to meet any Jedi excepting myself. Even Anakin you’ve only seen from afar.”

“I’ve met Jedi before.”

“In a setting that _wasn’t_ violent, I mean.” That stopped Jango short. Obi-wan knew he was searching his memory to find the _one time_ Jango had met a Jedi that didn’t turn out violent. He just ignored that and continued to watch the mercenaries, who were becoming increasingly more drunk by the minute.

“Which one is the Kel Dor?” Obi-wan jumped – quietly, he remembered at the last moment – as Jango spoke up, slightly louder than Obi-wan had been expecting. He hissed in annoyance and shifted.

“Which one?” He whispered – pointedly – back. “There are a fair few in the order.”

“The one who I think was trying to adopt me.”

“Master Koon.”

“That was quick.”

“Master Koon tries to adopt any sentient or non-sentient that seems like they could use some good parenting.”

“Did he do that with you?”

“Many times, yes.”

“What is his comm-code?”

“Why?” The mercenaries were passing out, one by one.

“I have some questions.”

“He isn’t going to give you holos of when I was a child.”

“…. _haar’chack_.”

“Language. Alright, they’re passed out.”

“Like on Florrum?”

“Yes, _mand’alor_.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Of course, _alor_.”

“I’m going to kill you next time I see you, after this.”

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...so I can't figure out how to add footnotes to this, so I'm just going to leave the translations here. I'll look up how to do that, since there are chapters in the clone wars timeline that are going to have a LOT of mando'a (which is going to be a pain), but for now, I just want to post the chapter while my brain isn't absolutely fried!
> 
> Jetti bora - Jedi job  
> boracyk - between jobs  
> verde akaanir tome - soldiers fight together (my approximation of no man left behind)


	7. The Chapter With BAIL

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A MUCH requested chapter from people who've been reading the first part of this series! Either explicitly ("more Bail please") or implicitly ("BAIL BAIL BAIL") I think you know who you are! :D I HAVE OFFICIALLY DECIDED that Bail and Breha will be squishes of Obi-wan's. If you don't know what that is, a Squish is, that's absolutely fine! Here is a definition from Urban Dictionary, who are absolutely amazing with this definition and the different ways you can define a squish based on where you fall in the ace or aro or both spectrum! 
> 
> "In the asexual community, the equivalent of a 'crush,' but explicitly lacking an interest in forming a romantic couple or having a sexual relationship with the person in question. It does not matter if they are 'in a relationship' as long as you two can have a deep connection...it is different from 'just wanting to be friends' in that there is an intensity about it..." etc. There are many different definitions, but this is the one I usually use to explain. It's like being intense friends! 
> 
> Also, I'm playing around with timelines for this part, so here Anakin is about 15 or so. Next chapter, he may be 11. Or 18. I have no idea. Well, I do since it's already written, but my point stands!

Alderaan had a different day-cycle and Bail was furious. Well, not _really_ , but having to wait until the darkest hours of Coruscant’s night-cycle – or at least, as dark as Coruscant could get – in order to talk to Breha was becoming an issue. Particularly because Bail then needed to sleep for two to three hours before waking up again. Time differences. Screw them.

“Something the matter, Bail?” Obi-wan’s rich voice rose concernedly from across the room. Bail then realized he had been glaring at his comm for likely an impolite amount of time with guests in residence. He mustered the energy to smile sheepishly at his friend and slipped the comm into a drawer.

“Just missing being able to talk to family at sane hours of the day,” Bail responded, accepting the steaming teacup from Obi-wan, who settled elegantly into the seat across the desk. Hmm, Nabooian Rose with a hint of honey. “Excellent choice, as usual.”

“Thank you,” Obi-wan said with a smile, “I had thought that after drinking what must be the entirety of the Alderaanian tea available on Coruscant, we could expand our horizons, just a tad.” Bail grinned and sipped his tea. Rich in taste, creamy in texture, and there was a light fragrance. This was the good kind.

“Where did you get this from?”

“A friend from Naboo named Sabe.”

“Ah, straight from the source, then.” Bail and Obi-wan relaxed back into their chairs in Bail’s new senatorial office. “I had an interesting encounter the other day.”

“Oh?” Obi-wan raised an eyebrow. Bail was impressed by the Jedi’s ability to keep a straight face when Bail knew damned well Obi-wan knew what Bail was talking about. Bail smiled, as polite as can be.

“Yes, I could have sworn that, as I was passing by the windows on the third floor of the Rotunda – you know the ones I mean, that stretch from floor to ceiling – I could have sworn that I saw a speeder filled with what looked to be giant blocks of cheese barreling between buildings at speeds that I know aren’t allowed in the upper levels.” Amusement curled through Bail when Obi-wan took a long sip of tea, but he could still see a small twitch at the corner of his friend’s mouth. “Now, imagine my _surprise_ when I noted that the passenger looked remarkably like one of my best friends here on Coruscant.”

“Oh, I can imagine,” Obi-wan said, eyes sparkling humorously even as his face was kept infuriatingly still. Bail was feeling increasingly mischievous. This was something that he was beginning to feel he could tease his friend about for years. Perhaps with only two words, even. Cheese speeder. How glorious. Bail smiled wider and gleefully noted that Obi-wan was beginning to look more wary.

“I was also _quite_ surprised when I thought that the person driving was, in fact, the charge of my best friend. Driving a speeder. Full of cheese.” Bail couldn’t quite help a small burst of laughter as Obi-wan ducked his head to mumble something likely impolite under his breath. Bail sipped his tea. Delicious.

“A cheese speeder,” he said. Obi-wan abandoned his teacup on the desk and hid his face in his hands. “I wonder how exactly that happened. I don’t think I would be able to even guess.”

“Have you told Breha about this…incident…you witnessed?” Obi-wan asked. A squeal of delight almost wiggled its way past Bail’s throat, but years of training with the former Senator kept the squeal firmly behind his teeth. Instead, Bail bared his teeth as he grinned. In the presence of friends, this was more for-fun rather than a declaration of war, and Obi-wan seemed to know this, with the depth of the sigh that he let out.

“Why, Obi-wan, I thought you knew better.” Obi-wan glared at Bail without heat. “I tell Breha everything.”


	8. Feemor Feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo...here's a chapter for everyone who wanted more Feemor (don't worry, there's more of him in other chapters).....I don't know how this turned into what it is, but uh. It happened. This happens pretty early on in the timeline. 
> 
> I'm also going to be updating tomorrow (saturday) along with posting a new part to the series! It won't be Attack of the Clones, but an original with original characters. The only people who are in there who are cannon will be Obi-wan and Anakin. It's 5 chapters, so don't expect a lot of complexity :D 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter! ~Rozu_chan

“Can we…talk about Qui-gon?” The sudden voice startled Obi-wan from his research on force bonds. He glanced over at Feemor, who was – likely unintentionally by how he was fiddling with his robe-sleeves – looming over Obi-wan’s shoulder. Obi-wan bit his lip uncertainly. He and Feemor had been growing more used to each other’s presence for about a year, but they had circled around the subject of their shared Master warily, neither wishing to be the first to bring him or any of the…trauma…surrounding him up. But now, it seemed that Feemor had been the one brave enough to broach the subject. A wave of uncertainty rolled through Obi-wan, but he still found himself nodding, and lead Feemor out of the archives and into a private salle. They folded themselves into mirroring mediation poses and breathed in deep together.

“So,” Obi-wan began, “what did you wish to discuss?” Feemor fiddled with his robe-sleeve again and shifted.

“Just…anything, I suppose.” Feemor said. “I just think we need to talk about this whole…” he waved his hand in an arc. “Situation.”

“Generally?”

“Generally.”

“Alright.” They lapsed into silence. _Well, this is awkward_ , Obi-wan thought. “Where should we start?”

“I don’t know.” Feemor smiled sheepishly at the ground. “Perhaps we can just…talk about the small things – missions and the like – before we dip into the heavier stuff.” Obi-wan smiled back.

“Sounds like a plan. I don’t think you know about the time we had to run from a herd of Gutkurs because Qui-gon tried to mimic their mating call for some reason that I can’t remember…”

They swapped stories back and forth, Obi-wan focusing on those times that had truly made his padawanship feel like it was something to treasure, and Feemor focused on the same, though Obi-wan was able to spot the differences between their versions of Qui-gon Jinn. They had known two different Qui-gons: Feemor had known the one who was young and brash, with his love and praise flowing easily and readily past his lips, hugs willingly given to an older padawan who had lost his first Master too early. Obi-wan had known a damaged – but still functional – remnant of that same person, one who had been burned through his love and willingness to give praise, and who was hesitant to make the same mistake a second time.

Over time through the talk, Feemor and Obi-wan shifted over to a wall and sat close together, sides touching and arms linked. The last story – one of Feemor’s – had them still laughing and leaning into each other, abs aching.

“He sounds so different,” Obi-wan said between wheezes, “when you talk about him.” Feemor let out a snort that caused them to fall into hysterics again.

“Well, he was younger, then,” Feemor said. They had finally stopped laughing and were just left grinning at each other and the ceiling. Obi-wan felt a warm sense of rightness from the Force, a sense of belonging that Obi-wan suddenly understood should have been there the whole time. If it hadn’t been for Xanatos….

No, no, he couldn’t think like that.

“He really did change,” Feemor said with a sigh. “He hadn’t been my Master for long, but I had thought we were at least friends.”

“With Xanatos?”

“No, we still met and were friendly during that apprenticeship. I meant after.”

“Ah,” the repudiation. Of course. Obi-wan leaned his head against Feemor’s shoulder. “I didn’t know I _had_ a sibling beyond Xanatos.” He felt Feemor’s mournfulness in the Force and hugged his brother closer in response.

“I’m sorry I didn’t approach you,” Feemor said. His quiet voice was the loudest sound in the room. “I’m sorry I didn’t say to hell with it and be your brother regardless of repudiation.” Obi-wan sniffed, feeling a tightness in his chest start to well up towards his throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when Qui-gon couldn’t be.” This last was whispered into Obi-wan’s shoulder as he properly embraced his brother and sobbed into Feemor’s shoulder.

It was like a great dam had burst, similar to but different from the one that had fueled his discussion of the past with Ler. That had been cathartic, the feeling of too much that had been kept secret and deep inside himself finally bursting out, like heavy clouds suddenly bursting with rain and leaving behind a clear sky. This…this felt like something else. A new beginning, perhaps. An opening of the gates, not to let everything out, but to welcome something in.

A click.

A new sense filled a spot in Obi-wan’s brain that had been empty. A bacta-patch over an aching hole. Feemor. “Did-did we just form a bond?” Obi-wan asked through his sniffling. Feemor, who was also sniffling but much louder, could only nod into Obi-wan’s shoulder.

“Okay,” Obi-wan said. Everything was going to be alright. “Okay.”


	9. Absolute Chaos Group Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Also, the next part to the series will be up today as well, so be on the lookout for that!   
> This fic will still be open to prompts, I'll just be also posting the next part as well.
> 
> Have a great read! ~Rozu_chan

[Lamest Quips opened the chat Dyad of Horror]

Lamest Quips:…….Did sOmeone change my user?

Lamest Quips: HEY ANSWER ME! I DON’T HAVE ADMIN STATUS!

[Nobilist of Nobles opened the chat Dyad of Horror]

Nobilist of Nobles: That was me.

Lamest Quips: NOBES

Nobilist of Nobles: Yesbes

[Blueblueblueblue opened the chat Dyad of Horror]

Blueblueblueblue: Why am I still in this chat? I was KNIGHTED! I was FREE!

Lamest Quips: Because I care, Aayla

Blueblueblueblue: Is that why I saw you stalking me on my first mission?

Nobilist of Nobles: Ah, she spotted you, Quin.

[Droid in the flesh opened the chat Dyad of Horror]

Droid in the flesh: Weren’t we also there?

Nobilist of Nobles: You are mistaken, Ani

Blueblueblueblue: Tell me more, Ani 😊😊

Nobilist of Nobles: Whoo boy.

Droid in the flesh: Christophsis, right? I thought it was strange that Vos dragged us all the way there.

Blueblueblueblue: MASTER I SWEAR

Lamest Quips: onoshe’scomingforme

Nobilist of Nobles: run ⛱⛱⛱⛱⛱⛱

Droid in the flesh: I heard that scream in my heart

Droid in the flesh: Also who taught you that meme, Obi?

Nobilist of Nobles: Zabu.

Droid in the flesh: Of course xey did.

Nobilist of Nobles: Did Quinlan _jump_ from that high, or did Aayla _throw_ him?

Blueblueblueblue: Which do you think?

Nobilist of Nobles: Hmm…

[Nobilist of Nobles changed Blueblueblueblue’s name to Professional Defenestrater]

Professional Defenestrater: Yes, I like this. Bow to me, peasants.

Lamest Quips: I landed in front of a group of younglings, and they had the absolute GALL to tell me that my landing was only a 3 out of 10

Nobilist of Nobles: Ha!

Lamest Quips: A _3_ OUT OF _10_

Droid in the Flesh: You _did_ land face-first, Voss.

Lamest Quips: Enough out of you, squirt

Droid in the Flesh: Make me

Nobilist of Nobles: Children, please

Lamest Quips: oh that’s _rich_ coming from _you_ , Nobes.

Nobilist of Nobles: Care to repeat that, _kind sir_?

Droid in the flesh: Oh Force, here we go.

Professional Defenestrater: This is why I wanted _out_ of this chat when I was knighted.

Lamest Quips: YOU KARKING KNOW WHAT I MEAN YOU CAN READ

Nobilist of Nobles: I would prefer clarification, if that isn’t too much to ask one such as yourself.

Lamest Quips: oooooh, you did _NOT_ just say that!

[Droid in the flesh has left the chat]

[Professional Defenestrater has left the chat]

Nobilist of Nobles: that took less time than I thought it would.

Lamest Quips: did you time it?

Nobilist of Nobles: Of course I did. What do you take me for?

Lamest Quips: Who won?

Nobilist of Nobles: You, unfortunately.

Lamest Quips: Yes! Same bet when the little monster is knighted?

Nobilist of Nobles: His name is Anakin and yes, that sounds good.


	10. Lineage Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You like Feemor? Here's some more Feemor! Also Yoda!   
> The school semester is over and I'm really hoping my final grades don't completely suck. 
> 
> Happy Reading! ~Rozu_chan

“Did you invite Master Dooku?”

“Yes, but he didn’t answer.”

“Ah.” Obi-wan carefully didn’t look at Feemor but kept mashing the tubers. He knew his reaction was rather overly neutral, but how else does one respond to hearing that their grandmaster didn’t deign to even answer in the negative? Feemor, Obi-wan knew, would be twisting the hems of his robe-sleeves and glaring at the wall. A quick glance told him his suspicions were on the nose.

“I don’t understand,” Feemor said. Obi-wan saw him sneak one of the berries from the salad, and let him get away with it. “I even lied and said that Master Yoda _wasn’t_ coming.” Obi-wan snorted, gave the mashed tubers one final stir, and set that aside to work on breading the bantha meat.

“Did you tell him that I would be there?” Obi-wan asked. Feemor looked almost affronted.

“Yes! Of course I did.”

“That would be why he didn’t answer.” Hmm. That came out sounding more bitter than Obi-wan had intended. Now it was Feemor’s turn to carefully not look at Obi-wan.

“Who’s Master Dooku, again?” Anakin was perched on the counter that wasn’t covered in food, swinging his feet against the lower cabinets.

“Your great-grandmaster,” Feemor and Obi-wan answered in tandem.

“He doesn’t like me very much,” Obi-wan added. He stirred the swamp soup bubbling merrily away on the burner closest to the window. The cracked window wouldn't help at all, he knew, but it was the thought that counted. Ah, one of the plants was wilting. Quickly. That wouldn’t do. As Obi-wan reached over and rescued the poor potted succulent, he noticed the silence in the room. He held the succulent in two (messy) hands and looked between two of his favorite people. “What?”

“There’s someone who _doesn’t_ like you?” Anakin looked like his favorite mouse-droid had been decommissioned and sent to be scrapped.

“I think that’s an exaggeration,” Feemor said. He took the succulent from Obi-wan and set it in the window above the sink. The succulent perked back up. “He didn’t reply likely because he didn’t want to, not because he thinks ill of you.”

“Hmm. I’ll believe that when I see it.” Obi-wan nudged Feemor over so he could wash his hands before returning to the breading.

“How can someone _not_ like you?” Anakin really was stuck on that.

“That isn’t rare, you know. Plenty of people don’t like me.”

“Who?”

“I’m not saying, because I know you’ll try and prank them.”

“I’ll tell you later, Ani.”

“Feemor!”

“Thank you, Fee!”

“Ani!”

“Obi-wan.” The three in the kitchen jumped as Master Yoda’s voice appeared out of nowhere.

“Good eve, Master Yoda,” Obi-wan said, once he’d caught his breath. The diminutive troll of a Grandmaster was smiling mischievously.

“Good eve, Obi-wan, Feemor, Anakin.” Master Yoda returned. “A game, is this, of saying names?” Obi-wan flushed as Feemor and Anakin began snickering and tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t bring up Master Dooku, a notorious sore spot for the old Grandmaster. Luckily, Master Yoda seemed to sense his distress and took pity on Obi-wan instead of teasing him further. “Swamp soup, is that?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, that is swamp soup.” The soup was, in fact, one of the first recipes Obi-wan had ever learned. Master Yoda patted Obi-wan’s leg and toddled over to the low dining table, and Anakin followed quickly with the dishes. Obi-wan and Feemor exchanged amused looks as Obi-wan fried up the breaded bantha meat.

Obi-wan put Feemor in charge of bringing the pot of swamp soup to the table, which earned him a sour look. Obi-wan ignored it and plated the bantha meat, a small smile on his face that he knew would cause Feemor to seek retribution of some kind. Obi-wan was looking forward to it. At this point in his time alive, absolutely nothing could embarrass him, since everything even remotely embarrassing had already been done.

“Is anyone else coming?” Anakin was counting the places at the table. Obi-wan shook his head.

“This is the last of this part of Master Yoda’s lineage,” Obi-wan told him quietly. He knew Master Yoda had heard, but had spoken low enough that his great-grandmaster could pretend not to. Anakin nodded seriously. This was the first time since the sixth months were up that Obi-wan had even discussed their lineage with Anakin, and now Obi-wan felt a little bit guilty that he hadn’t. He folded onto his knees next to Feemor as Anakin plopped himself onto the cushion next to Master Yoda. With all the food on the table – the salad, the soup, the meat – the lineage dished each other’s plates and settled in to eat. There was – for a while – silence in the room but for the clattering of spoons and forks against the dishes.

“Your classes, how are they?” Obi-wan almost laughed at the awkward and over-used conversation starter, but managed to hide his reaction behind an unmoved face and some impressive shielding. Anakin had frozen, fork suspended only inches from his open mouth with a chunk of bantha meat and a few parts of the salad pierced tantalizingly on the end. He was staring at the food with a mournful look, which almost broke Obi-wan’s unmoved façade. Anakin slowly lowered the food and closed his mouth, and gave the question some thought, which was something that both Obi-wan and Shmi were working with him on.

“I’ve made some friends,” he said, “which is nice, because there’re people to talk to who’re my age.” Yoda hummed and smiled, nodding encouragingly at Anakin.

“Ah, my…my astronavigation class is going great?” Anakin added. “Everything we’re learning is really interesting. I like the calculations?”

“Good, it is, that a subject you enjoy, you are taking.” Yoda nodded to himself and hummed again. “Good too, that friends you have made. Lonely, a Jedi should never be.” He looked Obi-wan right in the eyes when he said that. Ah, so the message was for all of them. Obi-wan smiled his most mild smile that he had used when he and Quinlan were trying to get away with a prank. He’d used it to greater effect on politicians, who couldn’t actually read your intentions in the Force, but that was neither here nor there.

“A truer statement has never been uttered,” Feemor said. He took a sip from his cup and smiled winningly at Obi-wan, who just barely resisted the urge to pinch his lineage-brother’s arm. He narrowed his eyes instead.

“Delicious, this soup is, yes.” Master Yoda helped himself to another spoonful. “Excellent as always.” Obi-wan smiled. Really, it was quite difficult to mess up swamp soup. The only way you could do that was try to make it palatable for the humanoid mouth.

“Thank you, Master.” Obi-wan said. “Though I couldn’t possibly match up to yours and Master Yaddle’s mastery over this dish.”

“Hmm. Teasing me, you are.” Master Yoda twinkled at Obi-wan and shook his finger. “Rude, it is, to tease your old great-grandmaster.”

“Ah, Master Yoda,” Feemor simpered, “what Obi-wan says is simply a statement of fact.”

“Abominable, you both are. Introduced, you should not have been.” Obi-wan and Feemor laughed as Anakin stared in confusion. Obi-wan suspected that Anakin hadn’t quite cottoned on to how Master Yoda’s humor worked yet. “Regret this greatly, I do.”

“No place in the Jedi there is, for regret,” Obi-wan and Feemor chorused. Master Yoda let out a faux-tired sigh and spooned some more soup up.

“My own words, betrayed me, they have.” He turned his eyes on Anakin. “My own lineage, too.” He looked so serious that Anakin giggled and looked over at Obi-wan, who winked in return.

Mood significantly lightened, the four teased each other in between bites and soon the table was being emptied and the leftovers transferred to storage containers.

“Here, Master.” Obi-wan placed the container that held the leftover swamp soup along with a container that held some of the other parts of their meal on the counter. “Some leftovers to take.” Yoda eyed the larger container and hummed.

“Keeping no delicious swamp soup for yourself, I see.”

“You enjoyed it so much that I couldn’t possibly keep any from you.” Obi-wan knew that sounded slightly sarcastic, but he really did mean it. Despite the lingering smell that the soup always left, Master Yoda’s eyes would always light up when he got to take home swamp soup that was made especially for himself by one of his lineage. Obi-wan made a mental note to teach Anakin the ways of swamp soup as Master Yoda’s eyes did exactly what Obi-wan had expected.

“Thank you, I do, Obi-wan.” The containers floated off the counter and moved with Master Yoda as he toddled back into the living room to say his good evenings to Anakin and Feemor.

“Have a good rest,” Obi-wan said.

“I wish the same to you,” Master Yoda replied.


	11. HONDO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You asked, and you shall receive! Hondo, Obi-wan, and Anakin being chaotic! Perhaps not as much as usual, but I was tired when I wrote this, so...I hope you all like it!
> 
> Happy reading! ~Rozu_chan

Pirates weren’t the first thing that Obi-wan had in mind when he had wondered what was going to go poorly about _this_ mission. Force, he and Anakin weren’t even in _space_! Why were there pirates?

He was crouched protectively in front of his 10-years-too-young padawan and their charge: a force sensitive Bothan youngling they had been sent to bring back to the temple. The youngling – who’s parents had named Graeg – was cradled in Anakin’s arms, sleeping soundly. The Weequay pirate who had accosted the three before they could return to their ship was laughing and waving his blaster around almost nonchalantly as he monologued, as though he wasn’t too concerned about the fact that he was likely going to make an enemy out of a rather… _concerned_ …Jedi Knight.

Unfortunately, this particular section of town had necessitated that Obi-wan and Anakin leave their lightsabers locked away on their ship, or else escaping from this situation would be going smoother.

“And _that_ is why you should join up with _me_! The Great Hondo Ohnaka!” Obi-wan stared at the Weequay for a moment to make sure he wasn’t going to be adding anything.

“No.”

“ _What_? You do not wish to join me in my _wonderful and profitable_ quest? _How_ could this be!?” Obi-wan frowned and reached out with the Force.

“ _Be ready to move on my mark, Ani_.”

“ _We’re ready back here, Prof_.”

Obi-wan reached out again with the Force and _pulled_. Hondo Ohnaka, Obi-wan supposed his name was, squawked in surprise as his blaster was pulled from his hand and then sent flying over his head. The moment he turned to keep the weapon in his sights, Obi-wan and Anakin moved.

More specifically, they jumped.

Even more specifically, they jumped from the roof of a building.

A tall building.

At least they had the Force.

Upon hitting the ground, they took off – Anakin leading – in a winding path that would hopefully shake their odd pursuer and lead them back to their ship (and lightsabers) relatively quickly.

“Why’d he want to recruit you?” Anakin asked as they skidded around a corner, narrowly avoiding an artisanal bantha-cheese stand. “I can’t see you as a pirate.”

“I don’t know,” Obi-wan admitted, “I don’t usually listen to monologues, they’re all the same in the end.”

“Except this one,” Anakin said. He leapt over a park bench.

“Except this one,” Obi-wan agreed, “usually they want to kill me or otherwise create chaos for a planet or the galaxy.”

“How about you guess?” Anakin asked, “Because I wasn’t paying attention either.” Obi-wan grabbed the back of his robes to hoist them all over a wall that was slightly too tall for Anakin to jump with a youngling in his arms.

“You want me to guess?” They ducked around a corner and quickly backtracked upon seeing the very person they were discussing with his back turned toward them, fists planted on his hips and looking around. “Perhaps he heard of my run-in with Jango Fett.”

“How d’you mean?”

“Ah, well, I wasn’t killed by him, for one.”

“How’s that make you a pirate?”

“He usually kills Jedi.”

“Hondo or Jango?”

“Jango. I also suppose that having a force-user on his crew would make some of his plots easier to pull off.” They were almost back at their ship. Just one more block…

“You are correct!” Obi-wan could almost see the cloud of dust that he and Anakin scraped up as they slid to a stop. Ohnaka had emerged from a side-alley along with some of his crew, all of them with blasters pointing in Obi-wan and Anakin’s faces. Obi-wan moved to push Anakin and Graeg behind him, but was stopped by Ohnaka waggling his blaster. “Ah ah ah, Master Jedi, no sudden movements, if you please. We wouldn’t want anything to _happen_ to that nice little profit…ah, I mean _youngling_ , would we?” 

“No,” Obi-wan said, and slowly retracted his hand.

“Now,” Ohnaka waved his blaster lazily in the air, “since you _obviously_ didn’t listen to my _beautiful_ recruitment speech the _first_ time, I shall tell you it again a _second time_!” And the torture began again. Obi-wan thought he was probably going to die from being talked to death, which wasn’t exactly the kind of death he thought he would have, seeing as how he was well versed in being talked at by long-winded senators. This Ohnaka fellow put them all to shame.

“ _Prof, there’s people watching_ ,” Anakin said. Obi-wan subtly directed his attentions to the still-moving world around them. Hmm.

“ _Can you scream and cry?_ ”

“ _Why_?”

“ _Aside from these top-robes, the rest of our clothing doesn’t scream Jedi_.”

“ _Oh, I get you_.”

“ _On three_.”

“ _One. Two._ ”

“Help! I’m being accosted by a stranger!” Anakin shrieked, loud enough that Graeg woke up. And then joined in. “Help! Stranger danger! Stranger danger!” Ohnaka stared at the origin of the growing din with a mixture of horror and respect in his eyes, blaster lowering slightly. Graeg screeched louder, and Anakin joined in, creating such a cacophony that had never been heard in the shipyards before. More people swarmed out of the buildings, just to see what was causing the ruckus, and in the confusion of the pirates attempting to sneak away, Obi-wan and Anakin melted into the crowds and finally headed towards their ship.

“Well, that was interesting,” Obi-wan said as they left atmo.

“Do you think we’ll see them again?” Anakin was halfway under their bunks, retrieving their lightsabers from the safety-hole in the floor. Graeg had been laid out on the bottom bunk and was – once again – blissfully asleep. Obi-wan wondered if _he_ had slept that much as a youngling. Probably.

“I don’t know, I hope not.” Obi-wan looked down at the feet of his padawan, who was taking a lot longer to emerge than Obi-wan had anticipated. Perhaps he was stuck?

“I hope so.”

“Why?”

“Our lightsabers are gone.”

“What.”

“There’s a letter.”

“Let me see.” Once Anakin emerged, an annoyed yet baffled look on his face, Obi-wan crouched and gently tugged the piece of flimsi away. ‘Insurance,’ the note said. Obi-wan sighed.

“I suppose this means another trip to Ilum.”


	12. Surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty short, but to be fair, it was supposed to be anyway! I hope you guys like it! Next week has Mace!
> 
> Happy Reading ~ Rozu_chan

“Where did they go?” Anakin – who had only _just_ turned 13 and so was no longer a _pre-_ teen, Zabu – twirled his unlit saber in frustration. Prof Obi-wan was standing stock-still ahead of Anakin, eyes closed and centered in the Force. _Force_ , Anakin wished he could be that amount of calm in this situation, but things were hitting a bit _too_ close to home, which was decimating his concentration. Not that he was good at concentrating to begin with. Prof Obi-wan finally opened his eyes and nodded down a side-alley.

“This way,” and so they went. Cautiously, quietly, a lot slower than Anakin had been hoping to go. Couldn’t they go any faster?

“ _Patience, Anakin_.” Obi-wan’s voice echoed through their bond, and Anakin sheepishly acknowledged his Prof with a slight nod and an apology sent back through the bond in return. Slowly, the pair made their way down the alley and stopped at a door. Prof Obi-wan closed his eyes again and frowned. Oh no. It was The Frown™. That frown was as good as the Prof saying the dreaded phrase.

“ _What’s wrong_?” Anakin asked through the bond.

“ _Stretch out your senses, young one, I need a second set of ears for this. I only hope that I’m wrong_.” That didn’t sound good. Normally, Anakin kept close to himself because the stream of input that he would receive would overwhelm him. Both Obi-wan and Healer Jalanam had helped him to draw all those strings in as tightly as he could, and he was in the process of slowly letting those strings go loose one at a time. To ask Anakin to let more of those strings loose…meant that Prof Obi-wan found something that he really didn’t like.

Anakin let the strings go, stretched out his senses, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

“ _There’s…so much death_ ,” he said, “ _And sorrow. And-_ “ Anakin cut himself off as something in the Force snapped into place around him. Obi-wan’s head snapped around from staring at the door with something like anger burning in his gaze to Anakin. The anger was immediately replaced with shock and sadness.

“ _And your future padawan_ ,” Obi-wan finished. His sadness was palpable in the Force, and Anakin only wondered for a split-second why. There was only one living being that he could sense in that home, and that being was his future padawan. A cry echoed both in the Force and in the air.

Anakin and Obi-wan burst through the door, sabers drawn but not lit, to find a pile of bodies – Klatooinian, Anakin’s mind supplied – surrounding one small form. A child not a year older than four. The child was holding the hand of a much older Klatooinian and crying out. Anakin exchanged a look with Prof Obi-wan, who shrugged and gestured at the child as if to say that they were to be _his_ padawan, not Obi-wan’s. Anakin felt a shot of aggravation and vowed to put that emotion to good use by dying all of Obi-wan’s robes neon colors. He stepped forward, respectfully finding a path through the bodies that didn’t require him to step _over_ them. That would have been a grave insult. Literally.

“Hello, youngling,” Anakin whispered as he squatted into the space behind the child. The mourning howls tapered off and the child turned and fixed Anakin with a sharp stare that Anakin recognized in the mirror after a hard mission and on Obi-wan during certain times of the year. “My name is Anakin Skywalker,” he said, “I am a Jedi padawan.” The child stared in silence. Anakin stared back. “ _Dobra_ Anakin Skywalker.” Anakin tried Huttese. The child finally blinked.

“ _Dobra_ Hekida Chuk.”

Anakin extended a hand and reached out to wrap a welcoming blanket filled with love that was partially his and partially Obi-wan’s around Hekida Chuk, his future padawan.


	13. Mace's Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mace and his quest to give Obi-wan a hug. That's it, that's the chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually isn't a prompt, it just popped into my head one day and made a little nest there. I hope you all enjoy the chapter! <3
> 
> Quick side-note for those who haven't read "Teach the World that Malevolence Kills": This will be our regularly scheduled program for two or three weeks until I have a good chunk of my version of Attack of the Clones written. Since I'm going to be starting up my spring semester, I want to have enough written ahead so that I don't get bogged down with a KO combo of school work and updates. 
> 
> Happy Reading! ~ Rozu_chan

Mace Windu liked to think that he was an observant person. As Master of the Order, he _had_ to be. As the _youngest_ Master of the Order, it was an especially useful skill to hone. So, why he hadn’t noticed Obi-wan’s discomfort with touch from more than just his close friends and lineage before Mace had clapped a hand on the younger Knight’s shoulder…

“I’m worried,” Mace admitted to T’la as she poured him some tea at her kaf-table, “it looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.”

“Obi-wan doesn’t seem to have touch-starvation, if he’s comfortable with his friends.” T’la sat back in her chair after placing the teapot on its stand. “He’s plenty huggy with Ani, as well. Perhaps this is a simple matter of comfort.”

“Plenty huggy.”

“Do not judge my turns of phrase. I’m an old, old spinster who by rights should have at least twelve dozen Tookas acting as my pseudo-children. Alas,” she sighed and stared forlornly at the table-top, “I am left with you, Eeth, and the others in the Therapy Family.” Mace tried not to snort into his tea and failed miserably. The tea splashed over the rim and down his hand.

“We are a poor substitute for Tookas, I suppose,” Mace said, wiping his hand with a kerchief. T’la grinned.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

&&&

_Still_ , Mace thought as he walked down the hall, full of tea and warm with hugs and laughter, _we should hug him more_. Casting his gaze about idly, he caught sight of the subject of his thoughts.

“Obi-wan,” Mace said, immediately changing his direction to intercept the younger Knight. Said younger Knight looked startled for a moment before smiling at Mace in greeting. _Carefully,_ Mace thought. He stood only a bit closer to Obi-wan that he would normally. Not enough for even Obi-wan to notice the difference. He made sure to talk with Obi-wan about everything that didn’t have to do with missions or other Jedi-related shenanigans. They had a shared interest in Xenofauna, he knew, so that was the subject that they discussed.

They continued on for a time before Mace noted the tell-tale sign that Obi-wan was becoming restless. Mace then neatly wrapped up the conversation and gently clapped a hand to Obi-wan’s shoulder. Again, Obi-wan jolted, but not as much as he had the last time, and there was a definite lift to the corner of his mouth that was genuine enough. They went their separate ways.

&&&

Over the weeks of the second and third months of Obi-wan and Anakin’s time being temple-bound, Mace slowly migrated his stance and glacially increased the length of time he left his hand on Obi-wan’s shoulder without the young Knight becoming uncomfortable. Happily, that now meant that Mace could stand with his hand on Obi-wan’s shoulder for an entire conversation without Obi-wan becoming uncomfortable.

Mace was also now able to sling an arm about Obi-wan’s shoulders. Something that he didn’t do often outside of their therapy family, but he and the others were trying to slowly convince Obi-wan’s subconscious that he wasn’t about to be attacked in the Temple, even though history had consistently taught him otherwise. Phandrire and T’la were both able to hug Obi-wan, and Zabu would hang off the Knight’s arm when xey could.

&&&

By the fifth month, Mace finally was able to hug Obi-wan without the young Knight jumping out of his skin. Mace wasn’t actually a big hugger – as Depa could attest – but he was still determined to hug both Obi-wan and Anakin as much as he could without it being absolutely weird. Which wasn’t much, since he was the Master of the Order.

Knights Vos, Feemor, and Reeft had all seemed to catch on to the unspoken plot and had recruited more people to join in. Plo Koon – to the surprise of approximately no one – was one of the first outside of Obi-wan’s friend group, lineage, and therapy family to throw himself into the mission, followed quickly by Kit Fisto – although Kit was less subtle and more prone to dragging Obi-wan into hugs that were mainly topless because of the Nautolan’s habit of shucking his top – and surprisingly to Mace, Shaak Ti. He had known she had a soft spot for Obi-wan – well, most of the Council did, if Mace was being honest with himself – but she was also, like Mace, not much interested in hugs. Soon, most of the Council members were taking part, much to Obi-wan’s obvious confusion. The only reason he wasn’t actively questioning what was going on was because Anakin was receiving the same amount of attention as Obi-wan.

&&&

The sixth month was almost over. Mace and Depa exchanged subtle smiles across the Council Chambers as Healers Ler Ku and Ojoth Jalanam gave their monthly report on how their patients were progressing. No details were being uttered, due to confidentiality, but they were able to provide broad strokes that were useful in determining whether a Master, Knight, or Padawan should be allowed back into active duty.

“What are your opinions,” Mace asked after the report was done, “on whether the Kenobi-Skywalker team should be allowed back onto the field or whether they should stay put for another month or so?” The two healers glanced at each other, likely communicating what they wanted to say through the Force. Healer Ku stepped forward.

“We would suggest that upon returning this team to active duty, they will be given missions that are the least likely to become dangerous,” she said, “Additionally, there will be no missions involving slavery – even peripherally – for at least a year.”

“They will also have scheduled times to meet with us while on mission,” Healer Jalanam said, “and will continue their mandated sessions for the foreseeable future.” Mace nodded, sensing that the entirety of the Council was – for once – in complete agreement.

“The Council is in agreement with your assessment,” Mace said, “although from experience working with Knight Kenobi in the past, there is little we can do about keeping the pair to the less dangerous missions. Even the most benign assignments in the past have turned sour for the Jinn-Kenobi team.” The healers smiled and bowed.

“As long as this Council can say that they tried,” Healer Ku said. Upon being dismissed, the pair swept out of the Chambers back to their offices.

&&&

“What a pity,” Mace said as he eyed the ship. Obi-wan and Anakin were standing next to him, guiltily looking between themselves and the ship that was quite literally falling apart at the seams.

“At least it isn’t on fire,” Obi-wan offered. Something sparked and shattered in Mace’s vision. The ship burst into flames. Mace felt his eye twitch. “Ah,” Obi-wan said, entirely remorseful, “my apologies.”

“You weren’t the one who set it on _fire_ , Prof,” Anakin said, tugging at his Prof’s sleeve.

“No,” Mace sighed, slinging an arm around Obi-wan’s shoulders, “no you weren’t.” He felt pleased as Obi-wan relaxed into his side-hug, a stark difference from even four months ago, let alone a year. Mace squeezed lightly and then let go. “You still need to explain this mess to the Council.”


	14. Cheese Speeder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In retrospect, the cheese in the speeder was not the strangest part about that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ask (prompt) and you shall receive! Well, in this case, it was more "that was hilarious" so I decided to elaborate. Probably it won't be as funny as if I just let it be ~mysterious~ but I elected not to do that. Hopefully, this lives up to expectations! Please do send me more prompts as well! 
> 
> Happy Reading! ~Rozu_chan

[From the Private Holocom Archives of Bail Organa]

In retrospect, the cheese in the speeder was not the strangest part about that day. No, the strangest part was two lightsabers being thrown – purposefully – down a garbage chute by two Jedi. _That_ was strange. And also completely warranted once you hear the full story. Yes, Bail, I know I said our lightsabers are our lives, but that action was completely warranted, I swear. Yes, this has everything to do with the Cheese Speeder, just let me get there first.

Alright. Moving on.

You see, the lightsabers were actually – no, Anakin, I’m not going to be starting over – our _old_ lightsabers, ones that we had…ah… _lost_ on a mission. Entirely by accident, of course – stop laughing, Bail – entirely by accident. Well, they had come _by accident_ into the hands of a rather notorious – and persistent – pirate by the name of Hondo Ohnaka. Yes, Bail, _that_ Hondo Ohnaka. No, I will _not_ be introducing you two.

There we were, two innocent Jedi – yes, innocent, Anakin – just returning to the Temple from a sojourn to Dex’s Diner, a fantastic establishment to be sure, when Ohnaka appeared from an alleyway, dangling our lightsabers from either hand. Now, we knew that these weren’t our current lightsabers, since those were clipped safely on our belts, but our old ones we had…accidently misplaced.

What? No, the cheese speeder comes later. Is…is that Breha? Bail, did you comm Breha? I will never hear the end of this, will I.

Long winded? Anakin, I’m telling a story, I’m supposed to be long winded.

Oh, for Force’s sake.

Since any Jedi worth their salt will at least give their best attempt to liberate their lightsaber if they find it in the hands of someone like Ohnaka – I mean like a pirate, Bail – Anakin and I immediately gave chase. Of course, this was exactly what Ohnaka had intended for us to do, and had set a trap for us, but what have we always done when confronted with a trap, Anakin? Yes, Bail, I’m using this as a teaching moment. I _am_ a teacher. That’s correct, Anakin, we spring the trap!

So, the trap was sprung, and we found ourselves hanging upside down. Now, at this point, we – no, Bail, we didn’t forget we had the Force, we were waiting for the opportune moment, as you would have known had you let me finish my sentence – we used the Force and retrieved our old lightsabers and used our current ones to escape from the ropes.

Yes, Anakin, and then we ran. Do you remember why? Yes, exactly, there was suddenly an entire crew of pirates chasing us led by their insane captain. Yes, Breha, I do mean insane. What else do you call a pirate who is bent on making a Jedi a part of their crew? No, no I didn’t mean me…Anakin, really. Snorting is quite unbecoming of a padawan, you know.

So, there we were, running through the alleyways of Coruscant when Anakin came up with the ingenious idea to take their speeder. Now, this was a difficult maneuver for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that there were pirates already driving the speeder. So, in order to provide for a distraction, Anakin and I tossed our lightsabers – the old ones, mind you – down a garbage chute that we knew we could retrieve our sabers from at a later time. This did, in fact, provide the necessary amount of confusion to Ohnaka and his crew that we were able to take over the speeder and use it to escape.

Sorry? No cheese? No, not yet, Breha, that comes later. Yes, Anakin, I _know_ that Ohnaka’s reaction was to laugh so hard he fell out of the speeder and was not a bit confused, but the others on the speeder were. Bail, are you quite alright? You’re crying…ah, you’re laughing.

Moving on, then, I suppose.

There was some confusion that I can’t quite recall whilst we were acquiring the speeder that led to Anakin being behind the controls. Luckily, this didn’t happen when he was fourteen and still in his _extreme_ pod-racing phase. Not that the way he flies is any different now, a year later. No, Anakin, it was an observation. I wasn’t making fun. Yes, I do say so.

Since Anakin was behind the controls, everything of course went sideways in the most literal way imaginable. I couldn’t tell sky from street with all of the spins and turns we were taking. I do believe that we brushed close enough to buildings several times that I could feel the static of the duracrete turn my hair on end. No, Anakin, that isn’t an exaggeration.

Now, we get to the cheese. You see, there was this artisanal cheese stall that was quite foolishly parked in the middle of a median. I don’t know _who_ they were looking to sell to, but I know that they hadn’t even imagined in their worst nightmares that all of their produce would end up in a speeder that barreled into their cart – without killing or injuring anyone – whilst performing one of the tightest barrel-rolls they had likely ever seen. No, Anakin, that wasn’t awe in my voice, that was the slightest hint of exasperation. _Somehow_ in that barrel-roll, the speeder acted like a scoop that sent all of the cheese into the seats, completely covering Anakin. I believe that’s when we flew past the Rotunda, which is when you saw us, Bail. I was left miraculously uncovered, unfortunately, since I could see we were heading straight for another building. Anakin was able to fling some blocks of cheese from his head just in time, and pulled up so tightly and steeply that I was surprised that all of the blocks stayed where they were.

We parted from that speeder in Dex’s loading bay in the apparently vain hope that no one we knew had spotted our little excursion, and then we went and payed for all of the cheese we had unintentionally liberated. Yes, Bail, I’m calling that whole experience our ‘little excursion’. Oh that reminds me, please do stop referring to that little excursion as ‘the incident’ using a mysterious voice and eye-brow waggle, it gives people the wrong idea of the typical Jedi outing on Coruscant.

Anakin, it doesn’t matter that this happens to be a regular occurrence for us. For the majority of the temple, this sort of excursion is something that occurs perhaps once every few years, if ever. Yes, we’re the odd ones, in this case. No, that is not a reflection on either of our characters – do take a break from laughing to drink some water, Bail – this is only the result of being part of our particular lineage. Like attracts like.

What’s that you said, Breha? ‘Birds of a fea-‘ you know, _look_ at the time. I had quite forgotten Anakin and I had a report to give to the Council. Must dash! Yes, we will certainly be available for dinner in-

[End of recording]


	15. Jango Fett? In THIS Report?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council deals with the first mention of Jango in a report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I completely lost track of time baking bread and forgot about this chapter until just now! So that's why I'm posting later than I usually do! Other news: School has officially started back up. I'm not drowning yet, but I might be soon, so look out for increasingly deranged notes! I'm almost done with the AOTC part, so the first chapter will be posted in the next week or two, depending. As always, prompts are welcome and encouraged!
> 
> Happy Reading! ~Rozu_chan

One of Shaak’s favorite times to be in the High Council was when one of Yoda’s lineage submitted or presented a report. This…preference…began with Qui-gon Jinn as a padawan, one of the most infuriating people Shaak had ever the pleasure of meeting. The experience – one that the Council had naively assumed would end with Qui-gon – was carried on in his three padawans, but the most interesting and intriguing of which was Obi-wan Kenobi. Somehow, no matter how benign the mission that they sent him on was supposed to be, Knight Kenobi never failed to uncover a plot, fall headfirst into some pit of dangerous animals, or get kidnapped on the way back to Coruscant if the mission itself had been as benign as advertised.

This mission had been no exception.

“Do my eyes deceive me,” Mace said slowly as the Council read through Kenobi’s most recent report, “or does this report say ‘met and survived contact with Jango Fett?’” Shaak looked at her fellow Council-member closely and noticed with no little amount of amusement that his eye was twitching. She caught Depa’s gaze and they grinned at each other.

“Your eyes do not deceive you,” Shaak said, keeping her voice smooth and calm, “this report indeed indicates that Knight Kenobi teamed up with Jango Fett – who we believed to be dead – to take out a slave ring.” Mace let out an impressive stream of curses. Shaak flashed her teeth and the curses abruptly stopped. Good.

“Unprecedented, this is,” Master Yoda said.

“But this is Knight Kenobi,” Kit pointed out, “who was formerly Padawan Kenobi, of the Jinn-Kenobi partnership that everyone agrees was an absolutely terrible idea. This isn’t far out of line with his past on missions.”

“Kit has a point,” Depa said, “Knight Kenobi has a tendency to be in the middle of things. This just happens to be a typical development. At least he isn’t dead.”

“Which one?” Plo asked. “Knight Kenobi or Jango Fett?”

“Both,” Depa said with a confidence that Shaak admired. “Especially since Obi-wan seems to have formed a positive interaction instead of being killed.”

“That would put a damper on Jedi-Mandalorian relations,” Shaak noted. Her necklace rustled as the teeth knocked together with the movement of her Iekku. Mace’s head fell into his hands, and his shoulders began shaking. “Are you alright, Master Windu?” Shaak knew he wasn’t.

“Oh, leave him be, Shaak.” Depa’s face juxtaposed how amused she sounded. “He gets enough of that at family dinners.”

“Enough of what?” Shaak was entirely willing to play this game with her fellow Councilor. While an innocent voice didn’t come quite naturally to a predatorial species like her own, Shaak thought she managed that quite well. She kept a close eye on Mace’s shoulders, which had increased in shaking to the point that Eeth was starting to look at him concernedly.

“Oh, the _teasing_ ,” Depa said, managing an even more innocent voice than she had before, “Master is teased almost incessantly by the family, isn’t that right, Eeth?” The Zabrak jumped slightly and stared with widened eyes at Depa and then Shaak.

“Well…” Eeth trailed off as a muffled sound emitted from the curled up, trembling form that was the Master of the Order. “Well, yes,” Eeth finished strongly. Shaak found herself slightly impressed by the small smile gracing the Councilor’s face. A moan of perhaps despair or some similar emotion erupted from Mace. Shaak clenched down hard on her teeth to keep the laugh bubbling up from her chest escaping.

“A tragedy, that is,” Master Yoda said, “to be teased by one’s own family, hmm, yes.” Oh, Master Yoda was getting involved. _How delightful_ , Shaak thought. Mace retreated farther into his hands. Shaak opened her mouth.

_Knock knock_.

_Force damn it_ , Shaak thought as Mace reeled his reactions back in and once again became the Master of the Order, rather than the youngest member of the Council. Depa and Shaak exchanged disappointed looks before turning their gazes towards the Council padawan who had peeked their head in.

“Knight Kenobi here to report on his mission,” the padawan said. Mace bowed his head to the padawan.

“Please send him in.” A jolt zapped through Shaak’s veins. She locked eyes with Depa again, who saw Shaak’s plan in her eyes and nodded. Shaak relaxed back into her seat and refused to catch Mace’s eyes.

“Masters,” Knight Kenobi bowed to the room as a whole: trim, proper, completely hiding the absolute troll that lay underneath.

“We hear you’ve made acquaintance with Jango Fett,” Shaak said, “do inform us of the details of that mission.” Knight Kenobi turned a wary eye on Shaak – smart man – and began the report. There were some suspicious pauses that Shaak made note of – along with some shifting of his hands on his elbows – which said that while he was reporting on the mission, he wasn’t giving the full report. Shaak stopped staring unblinkingly at Knight Kenobi’s side for a moment to glance at Depa, who gave a small, insignificant nod. Knight Kenobi wrapped up his report. Depa pounced.

“Will you tell us more about this interaction with Jango Fett?” Depa folded her hands on her lap and crossed her ankles. Shaak couldn’t see all of Knight Kenobi’s face, but he must have had some kind of reaction, judging by Mace’s hands twitching like he wanted to envelope his face with them again. The ear that Shaak could see flushed, reminding her of just how easy to read humans and near humans were sometimes.

“Ah, well.” Knight Kenobi cleared his throat. “We…we worked together on a common goal, which turned out to be highly successful and with – thankfully – very few casualties.” Shaak scented blood. Metaphorically, of course.

“Yes, a slave ring, wasn’t it?” Shaak tapped a foot lightly. Knight Kenobi shifted from one foot to the other. Mace’s hands twitched again. “How exactly did the slave ring get toppled? The reports weren’t quite clear enough.” Patience was always the best way to hunt.

“Ah. There. Perhaps. Was an explosion.”

“An explosion?” Plo leaned forward in his seat. “Nowhere near you, I hope.” Knight Kenobi shook his head.

“No, it was a…distraction.”

“An explosion as a distraction.” Mace’s voice was entirely flat.

“Yes,” Knight Kenobi said, “no other distraction would have sufficed.”

“Where was this explosion?” Depa was quick to interject before Mace could send Knight Kenobi away.

“Well, nothing was broken.”

“Where?” Shaak was enjoying this interrogation, probably more than she ought. But Council sessions were so dull, sometimes.

“Above the building.” Huh. She hadn’t thought that the explosion would be _there_. Interesting.

“Above the building?” Plo was looking and feeling concerned, now. _Father mode has been activated_ , Shaak thought. Knight Kenobi nodded again.

“Perfectly controlled,” he added, perhaps also sensing Plo’s father-mode.

“Hmm…” Plo didn’t seem to be convinced, lounging back into his seat with his legs crossed, perfectly still.

“How big was the explosion?”

“Enough about the explosion,” Mace said. His head was propped up in one of his hands, and he waved Knight Kenobi out of the room. Knight Kenobi went, wary and confused.

“Must you?” Mace asked Shaak. Shaak grinned with all her teeth.

“I must.”


	16. Comm Chat about Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mace tries to get help while babysitting. The help is exceptionally unhelpful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ~meant~ to post yesterday...but...woof. That didn't happen.
> 
> Hmm.
> 
> A ~lazy day~ happened, so...yeah. I'm posting today! I'm almost done with the next installment: I'll begin posting that next Saturday! I took on a bit more than I could chew with that one...probably because I was attempting to ~somewhat~ follow the script, at least for a few key points, and ended up deciding to make each chapter about 4k words in length. For the next intallment, I've decided to keep the chapters to a more manageable 2k. If I write more, then I write more, but I'm sticking to 2k. 
> 
> I'm also going to try a new thing where I put the new chapter summary in the work summary. 
> 
> Anyway, happy reading! ~Rozu_chan

[Window to the Future has opened BAP (Badasses Against Palpatine)]

Window to the Future: T’la, I need some assistance.

To Tree or not to Tree: o? 🤔🤔🤔

Window to the Future: Never mind.

To Tree or not to Tree: Mace [read 10 min]

To Tree or not to Tree: ugh fIne. ~Oh?~ Happy now?

Window to the Future: Immensely so.

To Tree or not to Tree: absolute disgust ಠ_ಠ

Window to the Future: How does one communicate with very young younglings? Don’t do that face.

To Tree or not to Tree: how young you talking? 〜(￣▽￣〜)

Window to the Future: About a year to two years.

Window to the Future: On the inside.

Window to the Future: Seriously, quit with that.

To Tree or not to Tree: …I…see…🤨

To Tree or not to Tree: Or rather, I don’t. ExPLAIN please. щ(゜ロ゜щ)

Window to the Future: …Obi-wan is on medical leave while Vos and Aayla take Anakin on a trip out to Coruscant’s best unhealthy food joints.

To Tree or not to Tree: They’re at Dex’s then 😂😂😂

Window to the Future: Che put Obi-wan on some meds.

To Tree or not to Tree: (⊙_(⊙_⊙)_⊙)

Window to the Future: I’m not going to even try to decipher that one. Is Eeth with you? I would like to speak with an adult.

To Tree or not to Tree: ouch. 😢😢😢 i shall never recover from this betrayal. how could you do this

Window to the Future: Easily. I typed it. Back to my dilemma.

To Tree or not to Tree: You didn’t even ask if I was here. -Eeth

Window to the Future: Oh, I did. I just decided that I didn’t care.

To Tree or not to Tree: I’m hear 2 uwu -Galvi

Window to the Future: Good Force, do you even look at what you’re typing?

To Tree or not to Tree: HA! I’m not so bad afterall! -T’la

Window to the Future: This doesn’t help the fact that Obi-wan is trying to climb out the window to look for Anakin, because Vos can’t be bothered to leave a note.

To Tree or not to Tree: That swounds more wike a jwob fwor Shasa-chan uwu – Galvi

Window to the Future: T’la, I want you back. At least I understand your mistyping.

To Tree or not to Tree: Too wate, T’wa is gone uwu

To Tree or not to Tree: we ate her uwu

Window to the Future: Nope.

[Window to the Future has left the chat]

To Tree or not to Tree: score 473, Galvi (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ [15 min]

To Tree or not to Tree: Mace, I’m back, just hadda toast something for Eeth. [10 min]

To Tree or not to Tree: Oh, I just read up. Hey, @Window to the Future, I’m back

[Window to the Future has opened the chat]

Window to the Future: Never again.

To Tree or not to Tree: lol

Window to the Future: Never again shall I complain about your ignorance of the laws of grammar. I have seen the error of my ways. Also, I am running out of excuses to keep Obi-wan in his bed that don’t include force. Not Force. [read 5 min]

Window to the Future: T’la don’t do this to me

To Tree or not to Tree: lol no punctuation

Window to the Future: T’la.

To Tree or not to Tree: ask him to stay put

Window to the Future: I tried that. He said no, and then somehow got half-way through the window while my back was turned for ONE SECOND.

To Tree or not to Tree: knock him out w/ the Force, duh (✿◡‿◡)

Window to the Future: That…is…something…I…will…not…do

To Tree or not to Tree: ( ﾟдﾟ)つ Bye

Window to the Future: T’la. [5 min]

Window to the Future: T’LA HE’S LOOSE IN THE TEMPLE DAMMIT

To Tree or not to Tree: o? (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) how…~mysterious~

Window to the Future: T’LA WHERE IS HE

[To Tree or not to Tree attached (1) image]

[ _Image: a ruffled Obi-wan laying on the couch in what are obviously T’la’s rooms, legs propped up on Eeth’s lap on the other side of the couch. Both are fast asleep with fluffy, colorful blankets draped over the both of them. Galvi is hung over the back of the couch, plaiting Eeth’s hair while he sleeps. She’s grinning at the camera as she twists what look to be neon pink ribbons into the braids._ ]

Window to the Future: …I’m saving that.

To Tree or not to Tree: Or just come over and take a nap on the other couch

Window to the Future: …alright. I’m bringing Depa.

To Tree or not to Tree: I still have her favorite blanket (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Window to the Future: I’ll bring pillows. See you all soon.

To Tree or not to Tree: much love ❤


	17. Jedi are NOT unfeeling statues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jango has some realizations about how the Jedi truly are people who feel things and make mistakes...Obi-wan is not the exception...this might change things...maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next installment has been posted! Yay! I'm going to continue this part because there's still stuff I want to cover here, so the prompts will stay open. 
> 
> Enjoy! ~Rozu_chan

Dantooine was an exception. Jango would absolutely be killing that Jedi the next time he saw the Stewjoni.

Ryloth was an exception to that promise he made himself while traveling back to Kamino in the Slave 1 after the mess on Dantooine.

So was Alderaan.

Jango didn’t want to even think about Toydaria. That was a mess. The mess, the humility, the _horror_. He was probably never going to be welcome back there ever again, whereas _Kenobi_ had gotten away with the respect of the natives. Jango was disgusted. Disgusted and somewhat impressed.

A year after accidently meeting up with Kenobi on Dantooine, Jango skulked (yes, _skulked_ , there was no other word for it) down the seedy side-streets of Bothawui on a mission for Tyranus. Something tapped him on the shoulder from a darkened corner.

“ _Hssst_ ,” the origin of the tapping hissed.

“What.” Jango was not in the mood for dealing with yet _another_ spice-dealer.

“Are you Fett?” The voice was whispering low enough that Jango’s helmet could barely pick up their words.

“No,” he decided after a pause, “I’m not.”

“You definitely are,” the voice whispered, “You look exactly like Obi-wan said you would.”

“Kenobi?”

“Ah, so you _are_ Fett.”

“You’re a Jedi.”

“Yes.”

“Why approach me?” _I’ll just kill you_ , he didn’t say. The words were implied. He thought. Maybe. Whoever they were, they seemed to know Kenobi well enough to call him by his first name. Or they were pretending. His hand inched towards his westar. A tan face leaned forward into the lighter shadows. Dark hair cut to the chin and bright blue eyes. The face shape common to Corellian natives.

“Call me Phan,” the Corellian Jedi said, “I need your help with some Younglings. I made a mistake, and we need to leave _now_.”

“You…made a mistake.” He shouldn’t be surprised by this, Jango _knew_ that Jedi made mistakes. Galidraan came to mind, and Kenobi constantly was making mistakes, though he called them ‘opportune moments of action and reaction.’ He’d just never heard a Jedi _admit_ to a mistake.

“Yes.” the Jedi Phan cringed and gestured into the air with a hand. “I rather misjudged the Governor here when I thought that he wasn’t one of the ones behind the abduction of children from the streets.” Jedi Phan stepped a little closer. Jango could now see that instead of robes like Kenobi, Jedi Phan was wearing something more along the lines of a Corellian smuggler. They were also holding one arm close to their side. “I’m not usually so naïve, but his cover was strong enough that I wasn’t able to pick up on irregularities.”

“What about that Force _osik_?” A pair of small, beady eyes were staring up at him from behind the Jedi, a thumb stuck in the _ade_ ’s mouth. “How many?”

“The Force cannot be relied upon for everything,” Jedi Phan said, “it was surprisingly blank for this mission, hence why I was looking through logs and databases. About Thirty. Only one injury: sprained wrist.”

Thirty. Jedi Phan ran the hand not held stiffly at their side through their hair. Thirty. The Jedi’s eyes were shining in a way that Jango hoped didn’t mean they were about to cry. He thought back to why he was here. Tyranus wouldn’t be pleased.

“I have some depts that are owed to me in the shipyards,” Jango said, “that should work.” To Jango’s horror, the Jedi started crying. Silently. They took Jango’s hand in theirs and bowed their head over it.

“Thank you,” the Jedi said. Jango thought he may have mumbled an answer, and a few blurry minutes later they had snuck into the shipyard and exchanged words with some of the people who owed depts to Jango. Luckily enough to get the group to a safer planet.

Jango left before Jedi Phan could thank him again.

_‘Thank you for helping Auntie Phan_ ’ Jango stared at his comm a few days later. Auntie? The next time they met up, Jango would be having words with Kenobi about talking about Jango to his confusing relatives (not that Kenobi was any less confusing).


	18. Phandrire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Padawan receives a lesson in the Force as she helps her Master clean up a mess in their temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the first of my small character studies that I'm doing for some of the therapy family! I'll also be doing Zabu, Shasa, and Galvi, so those will be the next ones! 
> 
> Happy Reading! ~Rozu_chan

_Messes are easy to come by in the Corellian Temple_ , Phan thought as she stared bemusedly at the crumbling wall of a salle. _And most likely caused by my Master_. Yes, there was the old Nautolan, laughing and apologizing profusely as he helped a disconcerted Rodian Knight clear the mess of mortar and stone from the halls. Phan sidled up behind her Master, fiddling with her padawan-braid.

“Need help with that?” He jumped.

“My, my, Phan,” he said breathily, “how light you are on your feet, I can never hear you coming!” He gestured to the remains of the wall in silent acceptance of help, and Phan focused her attention on the smaller bits of stone that littered the floor.

“Ah, yes, let’s make this a little lesson, shall we?” Master Ortho turned to the Knight, who was staring blankly at Master Ortho’s cheerful grin of sharp teeth. Phan cleared her throat of the laugh-lump that was crawling up to her mouth.

“What.”

“Which is more difficult to accomplish, lifting one big object in the Force,” Master Ortho lifted the largest chunk of wall back into the salle, “or many, many small pieces?” He gestured to the twenty or so smaller pebbles that Phan was concentrating on. They wobbled in the air as they slowly moved towards the opening in the wall. “Phan, you get a minute to guess.” Phan chewed on her lip, mind buzzing as she focused on the pebbles.

“The bigger ones?” She ventured. The pebbles dropped into the room, one of them bouncing a few times on the edge of the wall before following its siblings to the floor in the salle.

“Trick question!” Oh, Phan _hated_ those! She turned baleful eyes on her Master and the Knight, who truly didn’t deserve to have that look turned on him. “Would you like to tell her why?” Master Ortho turned to the Rodian, who looked very much as though he would rather be somewhere, _anywhere_ else.

“Hmm. Larger objects tire you, but many smaller objects require more concentration,” the Knight said, “so depending on the person’s strengths, someone could be better at lifting one large object like a ten ton boulder than lifting hundreds of small, one ounce objects, and there could be someone who is the opposite.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, glancing between Phan and Master Ortho. “Sometimes, but only sometimes, these differences correlate with midichlorian levels, but I don’t believe that myself.”

“Not many do,” Master Ortho acknowledged, “might we know your name?”

“Qenmot Uskehnt.”

“Ah, what do we say to Knight Uskehnt, Phan?”

“Thank you for your teachings, Knight Uskehnt,” Phan recited with a bow. The Knight shifted and nodded jerkily before continuing on with his clearing up. Phan thought that perhaps he didn’t like to talk to people much. She regarded him. He was dressed in plainer clothes – in a style similar to the preferred style of Coruscant – that were a light purple, likely to match his eyes. _Maybe he’s an archivist_? She sent the question to her Master, who sent back a feeling of approval. Warmth blossomed in Phan’s chest, and her cheeks ached, she grinned so hard.

After some time of moving and sweeping, the hallway was cleared, and the mess of rubble had been shifted into the salle. Knight Uskehnt bowed, turned, and hastily made his way in the direction of the temple archives before Master Ortho and Phan could bow back.

“He’s in a hurry,” Phan said.

“Hmm,” said Master Ortho, “sweetcakes?”

“Always!” Phan skipped in front of Master Ortho as he limped down the hall to their rooms. All the way, Phan jabbered on about this and that, commenting on the texts she’d been assigned to read and how dull some of them were, couldn’t those politicians make their rules easier to understand, Master? Master Ortho chuckled and pointed out that politicians seldom wished for their _opponents_ to fully understand what they were trying to say, let alone their constituents. Phan sniffed in derision.

“Politicians,” she said, curling her lip.

“Now you sound like Master Dooku,” Master Ortho said with a snort. Phan quickly brought up a hand and smoothed her face out with it. No _way_ did she want to look like _Master Dooku_! He had white hair and was wrinkly. Phan was too young for that. A laugh from Master Ortho and a poking of her cheek brought Phan back from her inner musings, and she stuck her tongue out at Master Ortho before skipping ahead to punch in the code for their rooms.

“You certainly like skipping, for a padawan who claims not to be a youngling anymore.” Master Ortho limped past her into the room and collapsed with a happy sigh onto their nice, worn armchair.

“I’m not, though,” Phan protested, shucking her boots and sliding across the smooth floor to collide with the kitchen wall. “I’m already sixteen, Master!” He never did remember that she was now of a legal age to do everything but drink and take drugs. Not that she would be doing either of those things. Phan scrunched her nose at the thought of alcohol. _Disgusting, bitter stuff. No way_ , she thought. She opened a cupboard and fished out their sweetcakes.

“Would you like to have a nap in your tank while I’m in classes, Master?”

“Ah, that would be lovely, Phan. Thank you for the suggestion.” Their sweetcakes were eaten in comfortable silence as Phan contemplated the ceiling and her lesson. Master Ortho was great at the big things, like Phan, but he had always taught her to focus on the small. It had grated a little, that he would think she wasn’t able to move past Shii-Cho and onto other, more complicated forms, but perhaps this was the reason.

She continued to contemplate the meaning of her Master’s lesson as she helped him into his tank, as she waved goodbye and walked to her next class, as she sat in her seat and stared – glaze-eyed – at the teacher. Something clicked midway through the lesson as the teacher pointed out a small point in the historical timeline that they were going over. Hmm. Phan stared at that small little point. How insignificant that point was, but how big those consequences were. Her lips stretched into a smile, and she fully immersed herself in the teacher’s words.

“I think I understand,” she said to Master Ortho after she’d helped him back out of his tank at the end of the day. “Both the big and small things matter, and the small things can lead to big things. You can’t have one without the other.” Master Ortho patted her shoulder, a twinkle of pride in his nebulous gaze.

“Very well done, my dear Phandrire,” he said, “now, let us go practice some more Shii-cho.”


	19. Galvi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galvi and Master Nold unexpectedly run afoul of a gang during a mission. Meanwhile in the future, Galvi is trying to make new friends. One ends well. The other does not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...MAJOR trigger warning for this one: there is the death of a minor character who is a mentor figure, so if you don't want to read that, skip the first italics section. The second italics section is likewise about the death, but specifically the response Galvi has to it. There is self-harm, however unintentional it is. Please pay attention to that! I'll give a small summary in the end notes for those who skip.
> 
> Yes, I know this was late! My apologies, but this one wasn't written ahead of time, and homework is my priority. I was able to update the other in-progress fic because that chapter was pre-written. So, here it is! Both five days late and two days early!
> 
> Also, there are two references in here: one for names and one for a line from Shakespeare. Let's see if you catch them! (hint, the names are from a Christmas movie, and I believe I've used that line for Galvi before)
> 
> Have a great read! ~Rozu_chan

_That technique sucks_. _Corda’s leaning too far to the right_.

“That technique sucks.” Galvi wished she could rewind time and unsay her words as the senior padawan frowned at her.

“That isn’t very nice,” Corda said. Galvi felt her response bubble up her throat and reached towards her mouth to try and stem the flow of words. Too late.

“It’s the truth-“ her hand slapped over her mouth, but the damage was done. Corda sniffed, eyes bright, and walked away. “Ah, kriff,” Galvi muttered, “kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff.” Yet another potential friendship down the drain. None of the Knights her age wanted anything to do with her, and it was looking like none of the senior padawans near to her age would be putting up with her either. Galvi turned to the other side of the training salle and activated one of the training droids.

“Alright, there?” Eeth’s voice shocked Galvi into missing a bolt. The shock of the hit numbed her arm. 

“Ow,” she said, “that shocked me, you sneak.” Galvi shook out her arm as her therapy-brother chuckled. Galvi grimaced at him as the numbness faded only to be replaced by pins-and-needles. She continued to shake her arm through the pain.

“A lesson in being aware of your surroundings, I suppose,” he said. He had that awfully smug look on his face that always made Galvi tempted to drag him into a headlock. He did usually have good advice, however, and she was having an issue that needed resolving. 

“I kriffed up and drove another person away because I can’t stop saying what I’m thinking,” Galvi explained as she focused again on the training droid. Eeth hummed and watched for a few minutes as Galvi blocked and lunged her way through a training module.

“Lean a bit to the left.” Galvi did so, and the hum of Eeth’s lightsaber raged by her ear to strike the training droid right in the very spot that would end the module. Rude.

“Rude. Rude and unfair. I was working out my frustration and you’ve ruined it, you pointy hobgoblin.” Ah, whoops. “Whoops.” Eeth only chuckled.

“Perhaps they aren’t used to having someone so candid in their lives.” His suggestion sucked.

“That suggestion sucks. Really sucks.”

“I wasn’t suggesting anything,” Eeth said, “though you are correct. Being unused to the candidness of others is no excuse-“

“No, no, that’s not it.” Galvi, having latched her lightsaber back onto her belt, picked at her nailbeds. Eeth’s gentle hand stopped her. “I’m not candid. I literally say what I think. I can’t do otherwise. I don’t know how. I used to, but now I don’t. I’m broken, Eeth.” The sudden warmth enveloping Galvi didn’t make sense for a moment before she looked away from her hands and realized Eeth was hugging her. Oh, that was nice.

“That’s nice.”

“Want to grab something to eat from the Refectory?”

“Why? Can’t cook to save your life?”

“Something like that.” Eeth’s arm around Galvi’s shoulders didn’t quite fix everything, but some of that empty hole in her chest left by her Master’s death filled, just slightly.

&&&

_Galvi leapt over the artisanal bantha-cheese cart, shouting a belated apology as the proprietor yelled something angry behind her. Just a little bit more…she just needed to run just a little bit farther to be in place in time to-_

_“There you are!” Galvi yelped as her Master appeared from the shadows of the alleyway Galvi was supposed to meet her in. The older Arkanian snickered and dragged the younger Arkanian into the shadows with her._

_“Master Nold,” Galvi said, “I think I managed to get their attention.” Master Nold eyed Galvi._

_“How many?” The gang was one that Galvi and Master Nold hadn’t been prepared for when on their mission. While this was the last mission they would have as Master and Padawan, the Council had informed the two that the only reason the planet needed Jedi was for a performative ceremony. Traditionally, a Master-Padawan pair would perform a dance of lightsabers, something that Master Nold and Galvi had done twice before already. So, being beset by an extremely violent gang upon exiting their ship had been…unexpected to say the least._

_“Five, at my last count. There may be more, now.” Master Nold breathed in, about to reply, and the wall exploded. The last thing Galvi saw was the blurry figure of her Master, more red than the usual pale white._

&&&

“What the heck is up with that hair?” Oh, Force dang it, that was out loud. At the strange and not insignificantly offended look on the Senator’s face, Galvi presumed that her cursing had likewise been out loud.

“It was.” The Senator was looking less offended now, and more confused. Galvi cleared her throat and smoothed the dismay from her face. Senatorial duty sucked, majorly. “I agree,” the Senator said, smiling now. Galvi cursed again, definitely out loud.

“Bail Antilles,” the Senator said, bowing his head. Galvi bit her lips to keep the words in and bowed back.

“Jedi Knight Galvi Rirr,” Galvi replied, “I look forward to working with you, Senator.” She clenched her teeth as more words threatened to pour out of her mouth. From the smile, Galvi thought that she might have even managed that feat. Perhaps, if she was able to keep her mouth shut, this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

&&&

_There was a ringing in her ears, and her head felt like it had been torn in two and then glued back together slapdashedly by an overly enthusiastic youngling. Her eyes wouldn’t open._

_“Stop your jabber, wench.” Jabber? Wench? Who used those words, anymore, anyway? “I said shut it, didn’t you hear me the first time? Huh?” What was the voice talking about? Galvi wasn’t speaking. “Huh. I think we broke this one, Marv.” Broke? What?_

_“You might be right, Harry.” Another voice. Where was she? Wait. Images dripped across her closed eyelids, slow and hazy. Her Master’s expectant face. An exploding wall. Her Master. Her Master!_

_“Master Nold!” Galvi gasped and tried to sit up as she opened her eyes, only to slam them back shut as the light stabbed into her brain. Her arms wobbled, and she collapsed back onto her back. Her hands were bound, she realized. “Master Nold!” No response but the chuckling of the two dingbats who had taken her hostage._

“Master Nold!” _Her cry through the Force had similar results. Her bond with Master Nold slipped through her grasp like oil, leading nowhere._

_“There’s no Master here for you, Jedi scum.”_

_“Yeah, you said it, Marv! No Master here.” Galvi peeled her eyes open, concerned by the fact she could still feel the Force, but not her Master. “Not in spirit, anyway.” Galvi’s throbbing brain went numb and her stomach crumbled into a small little ball as she stared across the cell – because it was a cell, and she was a hostage after all – at the crumpled figure of Master Nold, unmoving, unbreathing, staring at nothing._

_Galvi had read about people not realizing they were screaming as they were screaming, but that wasn’t the case for her. She knew she was screaming. The sound filled her head and shook her chest, the awful, awful feeling matched only by the hot pain in her eyes and the wetness of her cheeks. She soaked the ground in her tears, pierced her captor’s eardrums with her screams, rattled her chains with the pounding of her fists on the ground. She screamed until she went hoarse, until she tore her throat and coughed blood. She cried until there was nothing left but the hot pain in her eyes. She pounded her fists until she could no longer feel anything, until her hands were a mess of red to match her Master, until they were as broken as her._

_Only then did darkness come over her, and she allowed the Force to cradle her in its arms and sooth her hurts. Exhausted, Galvi slept._

&&&

This was awful. Galvi held back a scowl as yet _another_ Senator glared at her without actually glaring at her for _daring_ to comment without thinking. She wanted to scream.

“It’s not like I can help it,” she muttered to the floor, “when I think, I must speak.” She was leaving the Rotunda, finally, and aside from a few cases, she had been able to keep her mouth suitably shut, though she didn’t think that one Senator from Naboo would ever want to speak to her again after she said his sleeves looked like many mushrooms had been sewn together, and she wondered if they would smell the same. His face hadn’t changed from its polite cast, but she could see in his eyes he was thinking of ways to murder her.

“How was your day?” Depa. Galvi turned to Depa and launched herself into a hug. “That bad, then?” Galvi snorted into Depa’s shoulder and lifted her head enough to speak clearly.

“Senator Antilles wasn’t so bad, once he realized that I legitimately don’t know when I’m speaking or not, but all the others kept looking at me like I was something on the bottom of their designer shoes that make no sense to walk in and are probably extremely expensive. Like, enough to buy and sell entire planets expensive.” Depa’s laugh shook her whole frame, which Galvi never did get tired of.

“I’m glad you like my laugh,” Depa said, moving them along the street without letting go of the now-side-hug. Galvi felt her face grow hot at the realization she’d spoken without knowing again. “Yes, but I’m used to it,” Depa said, “and I don’t mind at all.”

So, today wasn’t so bad. And she _did_ have a family dinner, so there was nowhere to go but up!

&&&

_The ceiling of the Halls of Healing was the same, no matter what room or hallway you were in. There was a crack in Galvi’s portion of ceiling. She’d memorized its twists and shades. Knighted. She was knighted._

_“Bested the Dark, you have,” Yoda had said to her when she’d woken the first time after her rescue, “counts as your trials, this mission has.”_

_Some trials. Useless, since Master Nold hadn’t been there to cut Galvi’s Padawan braid. Knighthood should have been a celebration of all that Galvi had learned as a padawan, of all the work that Kilowai Nold had put into Galvi’s future, all the love that Galvi’s Master had enveloped Galvi with._

_“It’s not fair,” Galvi whispered to the crack in the ceiling. The crack didn’t answer, but someone else did._

_“No, it isn’t.” The voice was whistly and creaky. Galvi wasn’t sure it was worth the effort to look away from the crack. “You don’t need to, Galvi.” Oh, good. “Yes. My name is T’la Ro, and I represent the mind healers and therapists of the Temple. I’m here to say that if you ever need someone to talk to, we’re here.” That was nice to know. A rustling sound accompanied footsteps, and the door slid open and closed. Galvi kept her eyes on the crack._

_“Therapy, huh?”_

&&&

“What a…nice table.” Galvi did _not_ , in fact, think that the new table in T’la’s rooms was nice. It was a jarring difference, perhaps a bit too big for the room it was in. “Why’s it so big?”

“We have two new people showing up today,” T’la responded, smiling warmly at Galvi, “and so we had need of a larger table.”

“Tell us your real thoughts,” Eeth said with a grin, “I’ve been saying that the table is too gaudy and doesn’t match anything else in the rooms.”

“I agree with Eeth,” Galvi said, trying to pretend she wasn’t thrown at all by the information. Mace leaned around the corner from the kitchen.

“You said that out loud,” he informed her. Galvi wrinkled her nose and grabbed plates from Eeth. New people. Hopefully, the two newcomers would be open to friendship.

“They will be,” T’la said. The Neti patted Galvi lightly on the head. Galvi couldn’t stop her smile, despite her doubt. The door slid open behind Galvi, and she swung around to confront the new members of the family.

“I’m Zabu,” a small Falleen said, holding out a hand, “I prefer xim/xer, and I might kill you if you don’t use them.” Well, Galvi might just let xem, if she didn’t. She shook Zabu’s hand, and xer face lit up with a grin.

“You’re honest, I like it. We’re friends, now.” Galvi smiled back as a warm feeling unfurled in her heart.

“Friends,” she said, “I like the sound of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of the italics for the first two sections: Galvi and Master Nold have unexpectedly run afoul of a gang during a mission. The gang members catch up and explode a wall, which kills Master Nold (First section). Galvi wakes up, finds out that Master Nold's body is in the cell with her, and screams and beats her fists against the ground until she passes out (second section).
> 
> Stay safe, everyone!


	20. Knighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zabu faces an internal struggle as xer knighthood approaches, and Anakin shows off his vocabulary skills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, whoops! Still in school, though, so that's my excuUuUuse for the next two-three months :)))
> 
> I might, MIGHT, be going just a LITTLE bit insane. Maybe.
> 
> Enjoy the read! ~Rozu_chan

The Room of a Thousand Fountains definitely looked better upside down, in Zabu’s opinion. Xey were hanging from xer knees off a railing, arms dangling towards the ground, hair following the same path.

“At least your knighting is going to be standard,” Ani said. Zabu craned xer neck up and stuck xer tongue out at him.

“At least _you_ have a few more years of study,” Zabu retorted, “ _I_ have until tomorrow.”

“Aayla passed hers.” Ani clambered awkwardly onto the railing and dangled his feet (thankfully shod) be Zabu’s head. “And you two are pretty evenly matched.” _Only in lightsaber forms_ , Zabu thought mournfully, _Aayla is all around perfect otherwise_. Ani slapped Zabu’s knee.

“I can _sense_ you being an idiot about this,” he said, loudly. Heads from below in the gardens raised to squint at the two padawans dangling over a precipice. The heads shook in fond exasperation and went back to their business. Zabu _loved_ the Temple so, _so_ much.

“ _I_ can sense you want to see me do a backflip into that lake.”

“No,” Ani said, “I don’t want to see that at-“

The water was ice-cold, shocking Zabu’s systems in a cathartic way. Xey stayed submerged for a moment, relishing in the numbing quality of the water on all xer senses. A dull splash and the sudden intrusion of thousands upon thousands of bubbles heralded the appearance of Ani. Zabu stuck xer tongue out again at Ani’s grinning face and surfaced.

“Like I said,” Ani shouted over the roar of the waterfall, “you’ll do fine, become a Knight, and kick major tuchus!”

“Tuches?”

“Butt,” Ani said solemnly, “posterior, bottom, rear-end, behind, rump, the sit-upon, derriere, booty, caboose, heinie-“ Zabu wondered why Ani knew all these words for butt, and decided to let him continue on to see just how many he knew. “the rusty dusty, keister, jacksie, tush, bahookie, booty, buns-“

“Hold on, you said booty twice.”

“Did I?” Ani frowned. “Oh well. Nates, haunches, seat, Sitzfleisch-“

“What?”

“Sitzfleisch.”

“Is that Basic?”

“No.”

“Ah. Continue.”

“Where was I? Oh, right! Prat, botty, bum, bippy, batty, rass, fundament, breech, gluteus maximus, podex…uh…uh…oh! Stern, tail, tail-end, trunk, sacrum-“

“Isn’t that a bone?”

“Yeah, in humanoids it’s the tailbone.”

“Why do you know so many words for butt?” Ani shrugged.

“Obi-wan used most of those after the first time he called the Chancellor an ass, and I said that ‘ass’ was a bad word. So now he says ‘that man is a pain in the posterior,’ and all of those other words.” Zabu floated silently, staring into xer friend’s blue eyes. Ani looked not a bit weirded out that he knew so many words for a part of the humanoid anatomy. Xey were almost afraid to ask if Ani knew that many words for anything else, but the suspense was killing xer. Xey asked, and immediately regretted asking when Ani _beamed_.

“I know _so_ many words for ‘idiot!’” The seventeen-year-old said, and _why_ was that something to be so proud of? “There’s fool, halfwit, nincompoop, dolt, ignoramus – Obi-wan _likes_ using that one – cretin, imbecile, dullard, moron, ninny, nitwit, goon, chucklehead, knucklehead, blockhead, dunderhead, numbskull, plonker, berk, prat, pillock-“

“I think that’s enough, dear one.” Zabu and Ani screeched, throwing their arms around each other and staring up at Obi-wan, who’s face was beet-red – a color that Zabu found _fascinating_ – and who’s hands were tucked into his sleeves, a sure sign of embarrassment.

“Hi, Obi-wan,” Zabu squeaked. Ani laughed.

“Hello, Zabu,” Obi-wan returned, “shall we take this conversation to a place where you two can dry off and warm up?” Zabu grimaced. That was Obi’s I-am-going-to-metaphorically-kill-you voice. Ani seemed to recognize that tone as well, since he sunk deeper into the water until only his eyes were showing. Obi-wan sighed. “I’m not angry,” he said, and since Obi-wan didn’t lie about that kind of thing, Zabu and Ani exchanged looks and clambered out of the lake.

They were sopping wet and Zabu couldn’t say that xey regretted it.

&&&

“Padawan Zabu Lomrix,” Yoda’s steady voice filled the chamber, “In agreement, are your Master, your teachers, and the Council. Ready, you are, for your trials. Agree with this statement, do you?” _No_ , Zabu thought. But that wasn’t the answer that Master Yoda was looking for.

“Though my time as a padawan has been brief,” Zabu said, “I have learned much from my elders, my contemporaries,” _who says contemporaries when talking about people their own age anymore, anyway_ , “and those younger than me. While I still have much to learn,” _so, so much. I’m not ready at all_. “I must take my first step into the unknown with my heart and hands free.” Phandrire was nowhere to be seen. The Master was never allowed to be in the corridor before their Padawan’s trial began, and Zabu was feeling the loss keenly. “I am ready to begin this journey,” Zabu continued while thinking that this whole trial thing was moving way too fast. “Will you join me?”

“Yes, we shall,” the five Masters who would be part of xer Committee intoned. They were Master Yoda, Master Koon, Master Kcaj, Master Piell, and Mace. Out of the five of them, Zabu had only met with Mace and Master Yoda for more than the last six standard months of xer training. They were alright, and Zabu did enjoy Master Koon’s company especially (he just had a _way_ with making her favorite hot-drink when she was stressing out in his rooms about the theoretical portions of her exams), but xey missed the warmth xey could feel from Phan’s presence, even without feeling Phan through the Force. The comfort of familiarity.

Zabu bowed low from xer kneeling position on the floor, waited for the Masters to bow back, stood, and walked through the doors to what could possibly be xer doom.

&&&

Zabu stumbled from the door in what felt like weeks later. Xer hair was out of its usual high nerf-tail, xer clothes were rumpled and soaked through with sweat, which had dried only to be soaked through again, and xey could just barely keep xer eyes open. As xey crossed the threshold, whatever strength or will xey had been using to keep upright left xer body, and Zabu’s legs crumbled beneath xer.

A warm embrace enveloped xer, along with the familiar, comforting voice of Phan.

“There you are, my padawan,” Phan said, her voice soothing to Zabu’s ears after a seeming eternity of the strangest combination of grating noise and pure silence. “Eyes open, my child, there’s still one more part of the ceremony left.” A symphony of kyber lit up the room, and Zabu peeled xer eyes open to see the eerily beautiful glow of a Council’s worth of lightsabers lighting up the dark chamber. Each lightsaber lit a face that had a serious cast and a proud twinkle in their eyes.

Zabu managed to stagger to xer feet with only a little help from Phan, and Mace stepped forward.

“Do you, Zabu Lomrix, promise to uphold the Jedi Code?”

“I do,” Zabu rasped.

“Do you promise to uphold the Knight’s responsibility to fight against the Dark and for the Light?”

“I do.”

“Do you promise to follow the will of the Force?”

“I do.” Was that a smile on Mace’s face?

“Then kneel and receive this, your Knighting.” Zabu knelt. Mace’s lightsaber hovered over one of Zabu’s shoulders, then the other, then xer head. “Rise, Jedi Knight Zabu Lomrix.”

Zabu rose and finally managed a smile as Phan gently touched the tip of her own blade to Zabu’s braid, and Zabu caught it as it fell. The lights came on, the lightsabers flicked off, and Phan wrapped her arms around Zabu again.

“I’m so proud of you, my little gremlin,” Phan whispered in Zabu’s ear. Zabu snorted at the old nickname and squeezed Phan back. Another paid of arms wrapped around both Phan and Zabu, and Zabu peered over Phan’s back to see Mace clutching them close. He _was_ smiling. Zabu grinned.

“Ani owes me a dinner at Dex’s,” Zabu said. Mace squinted at her. “I bet him that you would smile at my Knighting.” He chuckled.

“Well,” Phan said, “I suppose it’s lucky that your celebration is at Dex’s tonight after you’ve had some rest, then, isn’t it?” Zabu’s mentor drew back to look Zabu in the eyes. “Everyone will be there,” she said.

“Even Aayla.” Eeth’s intrusion caused Zabu to yelp, much to his seeming amusement. Zabu stuck xer tongue out at him. “How grown-up of you.” Phan also stuck her tongue out. “Lovely.”

As the four left the chambers after Zabu was congratulated by each Council-member, Zabu slipped xer braid into Phan’s hand.

&&&

Dex’s was _alive_ , bursting with laughter and warmth, filling the Force with songs and beautiful content. Zabu loved it. Xey were shoulder-to-shoulder with Ani and Aayla, smiling so wide xer cheeks smarted and xey could barely stop smiling to eat xer curly-tubers. Ani also kept stealing them, and replacing what he stole with prickly-pears. Aayla was doing much the same, but with vegetables. Zabu found that xey didn’t mind, smiling across the table at Phan, Obi, and T’la. Mace was talking to Eeth off to the side, Shasa and Quinlan had popped in with Feemor to give xem kisses on the cheek before they all headed off to a joint mission.

Dex had given xem a crushing hug, managing to lift Zabu from the ground despite xer being two full heads taller than him. He had immediately shuffled off with loud proclamations that Zabu’s food was to be free, and Phan had dragged xem off to the arms of xer family before Zabu could protest.

Now, the warmth enveloped Zabu, and xey basked in the feeling, reveling in the wonder of being a part of such a loving group of people, a stark contrast to her beginnings, like Ani’s and Aayla’s had been.

Perhaps Knighthood wouldn’t be so bad, Zabu thought, with this family to come back to. 


End file.
